Deidrie Henry

Deidrie Henry, was born in Barbados an is an award-winning actor and musician and much, much more. She came to the U.S. with her family in the late 1970s.. As a student at Atlanta's Avondale High School, the range of her talents was already on display, as she excelled academically as well as in music, drama, athletics, cheer-leading, student government, and more. She had an extraordinary capacity to be competitive AND collaborative, fierce AND friendly. She was like a powerful bomb made out of peppermint-flavored glitter: complex, potent, surprising, utterly delightful. Henry initially set out to apply her talents and dreams as a commercial airline pilot. She earned her degree in aeronautical science and a pilot's license at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, in Florida, with plans of a career in the skies. However, she graduated just as her anticipated employer, Eastern Airlines, was in chaos and eventually folded. Henry poured herself into a series of opportunities in theatre, first in Atlanta and then based in New York, Oregon, Paris, and finally Los Angeles. In New York, among other things, she won the Backstage Bistro Award as the city's Outstanding Vocalist and Cabaret Debut for her Cabaret entitled "What a Day For a Daydream". In Oregon, among other things, she made a living performing Shakespeare, August Wilson, Chekhov, to name a few. In Paris, she sang in a cabaret, toured and recorded with an African Band, Yeou Terre Foulbe, among other things, she was in freakin' Paris (how dope is that?!?). Since moving to LA, in 2004, however, Henry has been busy, fulfilled, and thoroughly appreciated at the highest levels of her crafts, starring on stage and screen. From that base she has toured the country with award-winning shows and been cast in some of the most memorable television shows ever. On stage she has played lead roles in "Raisin in the Sun," "Streetcar Named Desire," "Yellowman," "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill," "The Ballad of Emmett Till," and many others. She has won multiple awards, including the LA Tony for Best Actress and the NAACP Image Award. She has also been honored with an Ovation Award, Backstage Garland Award and the Los Angeles Drama Critic Circle Award. Perhaps best of all, when she was recently cast as Billie Holiday, everyone just said, "That's gonna be awesome." And it was. If you've ever heard her sing, you'd understand. It takes a legend to be a legend. Deidrie brought Billie back to life. Her screen credits include MacGyver, Game of Silence, Criminal Minds, Justified, CSI, Bones, Ghost Whisperer, The Riches, Brothers and Sisters, E.R., Shark, Without A Trace, and NCIS. Also fun: you may know this brilliant, multi-talented, award-winning singer and actor and civil rights activist as "Annie," the longtime TV spokesperson for Popeye's Chicken. #myBHM