Wendy Davis (born June 30, 1966) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Colonel Joan Burton in the Lifetime television drama series Army Wives (2007–2013), for which she received three NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series nominations.

Wendy Davis
Davis in 2013
Born (1966-06-30) June 30, 1966 (age 58)
Alma materHoward University
OccupationActress
Years active1980–present
SpouseJacobi Wynne (divorced)
Children1

Early life

edit

Davis grew up in Joppatowne, Maryland.[1] She attended Joppatowne High School and graduated with a degree in Theater from Howard University.[2] Davis is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

Career

edit

Davis began her career appearing in television sitcoms. She was semi-regular on the 1991 sitcom The New WKRP in Cincinnati as receptionist Ronnie Lee, and guest starred on Martin, The Sinbad Show , and Coach. From 1996 to 1997, Davis starred as Lynette White in the ABC police drama High Incident created by Steven Spielberg.[1] The series ran two seasons. The following years, she spent appearing in the television and independent films, including Return to Two Moon Junction (1995), and well as guest starred on episodes of Any Day Now, Angel, Cold Case, and Grey's Anatomy.

In 2007, Davis was cast as Colonel Joan Burton in the Lifetime television drama series Army Wives opposite Kim Delaney, Catherine Bell, Sally Pressman and Brigid Brannagh. Davis has also received three NAACP Image Award nominations for her role under the category of "Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series" in 2008, 2009, and 2011.[3][4][5] She starred in show from 2007 to 2013, leaving after the season 7 finale.[6][7] Lifetime later canceled the series after seven seasons.

From 2012 to 2013, Davis had a recurring role as Kimberly Mitchell in the second season of ABC drama series Scandal created by Shonda Rhimes.[8] She later guest starred on Castle, Criminal Minds, NCIS, and Major Crimes. In 2018, she was cast in a series regular role in the Oprah Winfrey Network comedy-drama series Love Is created and produced by Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil.[9] The series was canceled after one season due to allegations of domestic violence and lifting the idea for the series from an ex-lover against Salim Akil.[10]

 
Davis serves as guest speaker during a baby shower at the 2009 Naval Medical Center Portsmouth hosted by the medical facility for mothers of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Personal life

edit

Davis has a daughter with ex-husband Jacobi Wynne. She and her daughter live in Los Angeles CA. In a series of 9 short videos available through the "Understood" website and through YouTube, she discusses growing up with ADHD, how it helped her as an actress, and how she responded to her daughter getting the same diagnosis. The videos are to help parents of children with ADHD, adults with ADHD, and the rest of the population.[11]

Filmography

edit

Film

edit
Year Title Role Notes
1980 Powder Heads Reborn #1
1989 Running Out of Time Tracy Michelle Gibson TV movie
1995 Return to Two Moon Junction Roni
1996 Brittle Glory Reporter
1999 Rendezvous Jade TV movie
2001 Fight Girls Sexy Red
Taking Back Our Town Janice Dickerson TV movie
2002 Trapped: Buried Alive Monique TV movie
Mother Ghost Stacy
2009 Kid Edition Cynthia TV movie
2014 Just a Dream Sherry Short
2016 I Know Where Lizzie Is Melissa Portman TV movie
2018 Mr. Malevolent Lucy
Encounter Agent Tevis

Television

edit
Year Title Role Notes
1991 The New WKRP in Cincinnati Ronnie Lee Recurring cast: season 1
1993 Martin Bobbi Episode: "Baby, It's You"
The Sinbad Show Sandy Episode: "Petty Larceny"
South of Sunset Episode: "Newspaper Boy"
1994 Coach Julie Episode: "Like Father, Like Daughter"
1996 EZ Streets Joan Priestly Episode: "Pilot"
1996–97 High Incident Lynette White Main cast
1997 Between Brothers Cynthia Episode: "Family Affair"
1998 Profiler Mrs. Driscoll Episode: "Dying to Live"
Smart Guy Hillary Jordan Episode: "Beating Is Fundamental"
2000 Any Day Now Cheryl Episode: "Lighten Up, Rene"
2001 Cursed Alice Fullmer Episode: "...And Then He Got a Rash"
The District Saundra Dayton Episode: "The Project"
2002 Angel Aubrey Jenkins Episode: "Loyalty"
2005 Cold Case Julia Owens Episode: "Ravaged"
Grey's Anatomy Holly Adams Episode: "Who's Zoomin' Who?"
2006 Commander in Chief Karen Patton Episode: "Unfinished Business"
2007–13 Army Wives Joan Burton Main cast
2012–13 Scandal Kimberly Mitchell Recurring cast: season 2
2014 Castle Lt. Delia Burton Episode: "Under Fire"
Criminal Minds Dr. Kathleen Benedict Episode: "Mr. & Mrs. Anderson"
2016 NCIS Kensington Bloom Episode: "Sister City: Part 1"
Major Crimes Sharon's Doctor Episode: "Off the Wagon"
2017 Sweet/Vicious Episode: "Pure Heroine" & "An Innocent Man"
2018 Designated Survivor Commander Watkins Episode: "The Final Frontier"
Love Is Nuri (2017) Main cast
2020 Star Trek: Picard Dr. Kabath Episode: "Maps and Legends"
Bull Samara Walton Episode: "Child of Mine"
2022–23 Bel Air Joan 3 episodes

Awards and nominations

edit
  • Drama-Logue AwardTalking With
  • 2008, Image Awards – Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series Army Wives (Nominated)
  • 2009, Image Awards – Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series Army Wives (Nominated)
  • 2011, Image Awards – Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series Army Wives (Nominated)
  • 2008, Prism Awards – Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline Army Wives (Nominated)

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Wendy Davis biography". Buddytv.com. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  2. ^ "Wendy Davis profile". Tvguide.com. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  3. ^ "Winners of the 39th NAACP Image Awards" (PDF). 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 12, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  4. ^ "The 40th NAACP Image Awards – Winners". naacpimageawards.net. February 12, 2009. Archived from the original on December 31, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  5. ^ "The 42nd NAACP Image Awards – Television". naacpimageawards.net. March 4, 2011. Archived from the original on June 25, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  6. ^ "'Army Wives' Finale: Joan Retires From The Army To Move To Baltimore (VIDEO)". Huffingtonpost.com. 2013-06-06. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
  7. ^ "'Army Wives' finale: season 8 uncertain – Should Lifetime renew or cancel?". Blog.zap2it.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-16. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
  8. ^ "Wendy Davis credits". Tvguide.com. 2012-11-28. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  9. ^ Petski, Denise (13 April 2018). "'Love Is ___': Wendy Davis Joins OWN Relationship Dramedy In Recasting". Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  10. ^ Patten, Dominic (December 19, 2018). "OWN Breaks Up With 'Love Is _' Amidst EP Salim Akil Domestic Violence Claims".
  11. ^ "Wendy Davis on having ADHD". Understood.org. 2015-10-09. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
edit