CCH Pounder
- Actress
- Producer
The CCH stands for Carol Christine Hilaria, her birth name. Most of her characters are enriched with positive attributes -- strength, confidence, integrity, strong-mindedness -- and it is a testament to the abilities of this four-time Emmy nominated actress that she continues on such a high plane in a five-decade career.
Born on Christmas Day 1952 in Guyana, she was raised on a sugar cane plantation. Her parents, Betsy Enid Arnella (James) and Ronald Urlington Pounder, moved the family to the States while she was still a young girl, but she and her sister were subsequently sent to a convent boarding school in Britain where they were introduced to art and the classics. Following high school graduation, she arrived in New York and studied at Ithaca College, where her acting talents were strongly tapped into. Regional and classical repertory theater followed, earning roles in such productions as "The Mighty Gents" (1979) with Morgan Freeman at the New York Shakespeare Festival and "Open Admissions" (1984), her Broadway debut. Other stage work includes "Coriolanus," "Antony and Cleopatra," "The Frog," "The Lodger" and "Mumbo Jumbo."
After bit/featured roles in Que le spectacle commence... (1979), I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982) and L'honneur des Prizzi (1985), CCH earned cult status in the art-house film Bagdad Café (1987) (aka "Bagdad Café" in the US) as the offbeat owner of a roadside café. She continued to impress with support roles in Bons baisers d'Hollywood (1990), The Importance of Being Earnest (1992), an all-black version: as Miss Prism), Benny & Joon (1993), RoboCop 3 (1993), Sliver (1993), Le Cavalier du diable (1995),Volte/face (1997), Un coeur dans les étoiles (1999), The Devil in Miss Jones 6 (1999), Baby of the Family (2002), Rain (2008), Esther (2009), Avatar (2009) (as the voice of Mo'at, and its sequels), My Girlfriend's Back (2010). Home Again (2012) (as a Jamaican) and The Mortal Instruments: La Cité des ténèbres (2013).
Pounder's prominence came, however, with television. Often cast as succinct, professional types (doctors, policewoman, judges) or characters with a variety of accents, she is known for her understated intensity and earned an Emmy nomination for her stint on the hospital drama Urgences (1994). She has also performed in a number of highly acclaimed topical mini-movie dramas, including Go Tell It on the Mountain (1985), Common Ground (1990), Chasse à l'homme dans le Mississipi (1990), Little Girl Fly Away (1998), Un don surnaturel (1999), Boycott (2001), Rédemption - Itinéraire d'un chef de gang (2004) (as Winnie Mandela) for which a number of kudos have come her way.
Millennium TV output includes regular/recurring roles on the series The Shield (2002) in which she earned an NAACP Award and Emmy nomination as Detective Claudette Wym; the social drama Ciencias del espacio (2008) as matriarch Mrs. Trainor, and NCIS : Nouvelle-Orléans (2014) as medical examiner Loretta Wade. She later found voice work in animated projects and video games.
Born on Christmas Day 1952 in Guyana, she was raised on a sugar cane plantation. Her parents, Betsy Enid Arnella (James) and Ronald Urlington Pounder, moved the family to the States while she was still a young girl, but she and her sister were subsequently sent to a convent boarding school in Britain where they were introduced to art and the classics. Following high school graduation, she arrived in New York and studied at Ithaca College, where her acting talents were strongly tapped into. Regional and classical repertory theater followed, earning roles in such productions as "The Mighty Gents" (1979) with Morgan Freeman at the New York Shakespeare Festival and "Open Admissions" (1984), her Broadway debut. Other stage work includes "Coriolanus," "Antony and Cleopatra," "The Frog," "The Lodger" and "Mumbo Jumbo."
After bit/featured roles in Que le spectacle commence... (1979), I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982) and L'honneur des Prizzi (1985), CCH earned cult status in the art-house film Bagdad Café (1987) (aka "Bagdad Café" in the US) as the offbeat owner of a roadside café. She continued to impress with support roles in Bons baisers d'Hollywood (1990), The Importance of Being Earnest (1992), an all-black version: as Miss Prism), Benny & Joon (1993), RoboCop 3 (1993), Sliver (1993), Le Cavalier du diable (1995),Volte/face (1997), Un coeur dans les étoiles (1999), The Devil in Miss Jones 6 (1999), Baby of the Family (2002), Rain (2008), Esther (2009), Avatar (2009) (as the voice of Mo'at, and its sequels), My Girlfriend's Back (2010). Home Again (2012) (as a Jamaican) and The Mortal Instruments: La Cité des ténèbres (2013).
Pounder's prominence came, however, with television. Often cast as succinct, professional types (doctors, policewoman, judges) or characters with a variety of accents, she is known for her understated intensity and earned an Emmy nomination for her stint on the hospital drama Urgences (1994). She has also performed in a number of highly acclaimed topical mini-movie dramas, including Go Tell It on the Mountain (1985), Common Ground (1990), Chasse à l'homme dans le Mississipi (1990), Little Girl Fly Away (1998), Un don surnaturel (1999), Boycott (2001), Rédemption - Itinéraire d'un chef de gang (2004) (as Winnie Mandela) for which a number of kudos have come her way.
Millennium TV output includes regular/recurring roles on the series The Shield (2002) in which she earned an NAACP Award and Emmy nomination as Detective Claudette Wym; the social drama Ciencias del espacio (2008) as matriarch Mrs. Trainor, and NCIS : Nouvelle-Orléans (2014) as medical examiner Loretta Wade. She later found voice work in animated projects and video games.
