Sharon Brown (actress)

Background and family

She was born in New York City, New York, and is the daughter of actor Johnny Brown, who portrayed Nathan Bookman on the 1970s sitcom Good Times. Her mother, June Brown, was a studio manager.

She is married to Billy Blanks, Jr., and sometimes appears under her married name of Sharon Catherine Blanks.

Professional career

Brown has worked frequently as a stage actress, including roles as Effie in both Broadway and touring productions of the musical Dreamgirls; as Violet in the musical Maggie Flynn; and as the narrator in versions of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. She has also toured with productions of The Wiz, Rent and Jekyll & Hyde. Brown was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award in 1987 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Non-Resident Production for her role in the touring version of Dreamgirls.

Film credits include A Chorus Line (1985), For Keeps (1988), Sister Act 2 (1993), What's Love Got to Do with It (1993), Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) and Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999). On television, Brown played the character Daisy on the CBS soap opera Love of Life in 1971, and she originated the role of Chantel on the NBC soap Generations from 1989 to 1990. She portrayed a young Louise in a 1981 flashback episode of The Jeffersons titled "And the Doorknobs Shined Like Diamonds". Other episodic television credits include Good Times, A Different World and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.