Lynda Gravátt, a mainstay of the New York stage, a seminal figure in the Washington D.C. theater community and a familiar presence on television through appearances in the Law & Order franchise shows, The Good Wife and the 1999 Showtime series The Hoop Life, died February 23 at a hospital in New Jersey.
She was 77. Her death was confirmed by the National Black Theatre. A cause has not been disclosed. Born in Harlem May 24, 1946 (some reports indicate 1947), Gravátt made her Broadway debut at age 4 in The King and I, and would subsequently appear as a child performer and singer on local TV shows and in concerts.
A graduate of Howard University, Gravátt resumed her acting career as a founding member of the Living Stage, a company at Washington D.C.’s Arena Stage devoted to theater works promoting social justice.
Returning to New York City, Gravátt became a staple of the Off Broadway scene, where her resume would come to include John Henry Redwood’s The Old Settler, Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel, August Wilson’s King Hedley II, Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes and Dominique Morisseau’s Skeleton Crew.
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