Donna Biscoe
# Donna Biscoe

Donna Biscoe (born September 30, 1955) is an American actress.

## Early years

Biscoe was born in Fort Benning, Georgia, the daughter of Mildred Skillern, a retired Carver High School English teacher. Biscoe attended Carver, then graduated from Kendrick High School in Columbus in 1973 and later graduated from Clark Atlanta University with a bachelor's degree in elementary education. Biscoe later went to Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York for six months.

In the 1980s, a casting agent discovered Biscoe while she worked as a flight attendant for Eastern Airlines.

## Career

After returning to Atlanta, Biscoe began acting in plays, including playing Martin Luther King Jr.’s mother in A Boy King at the Atlanta Children’s Theater. In late 1980s, Biscoe also began appearing in an supporting roles in film and television, including four appearances in In the Heat of the Night, CBS miniseries Mama Flora's Family (1998), and well as films Love Crimes (1992) and Blue Sky (1994).

Biscoe worked mostly in theatre in 1980s and 1990s. Her stage credits including Doubt, To Kill A Mockingbird, Waiting To Be Invited, Holiday Heart, Homebody Kabul, Our Town and Fences. In 2000s, she began appearing in films playing mostly roles of mothers of grandmothers. Her film credits including Motives 2 and Three Can Play That Game (2007) starring Vivica A. Fox, Mississippi Damned (2009), The Sacrament (2013), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014), and Girls Trip (2017). She played Taraji P. Henson's character mother in the 2016 biographical drama film Hidden Figures, and Kevin Hart's mother in the 2018 comedy Night School.

On television, Biscoe guest-starred in Drop Dead Diva, Nashville and Being Mary Jane. She had a recurring roles in the two Oprah Winfrey Network series: drama Greenleaf as Clara Jackson, and prime time soap opera Ambitions as Robin Givens' character mother. In 2017, she began starring in the Bounce TV prime time soap opera Saints & Sinners playing villainous Lady Leona Byrd. The series ended in 2022 after six seasons.

## Other activities

In 2008, Biscoe ran a Pilates studio in downtown Atlanta.

## Filmography

### Film

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1987 | Kids Like These | Parent | Television film |
| 1987 | Dead Aim | Denise Long | |
| 1988 | Case Closed | Allison | Television film |
| 1992 | Grass Roots | Lisa Conroy | Television film |
| 1992 | In the Line of Duty: Street War | Mikey's Mom | Television film |
| 1992 | The Secret Passion of Robert Clayton | Heather | Television film |
| 1992 | Love Crimes | Hannah | |
| 1993 | Silent Victim | Beth Thompson | Television film |
| 1993 | I'll Fly Away: Then and Now | Adult Adlaine | Television film |
| 1994 | Blue Sky | Officer's Wife | |
| 1994 | Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All | Maynelle | Television film |
| 1998 | Mama Flora's Family | Jessica | Television miniseries |
| 1999 | The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn | Nurse | Television film |
| 1999 | The Price of a Broken Heart | Phyllis | Television film |
| 2000 | Freedom Song | Mrs. Summer | Television film |
| 2000 | Trois | Ms. Paul | |
| 2002 | Pandora's Box | Donna Paul | |
| 2002 | Nowhere Road | | |
| 2004 | Trois 3: The Escort | Patricia Meyer | |
| 2004 | Dead Birds | Black Woman | |
| 2004 | Frankenfish | Gloria Crankton | |
| 2005 | The Gospel | Reverend Jones | |
| 2005 | A Message from Pops | Mom | Short film |
| 2006 | Broken Bridges | Dr. McVee | |
| 2007 | Daddy's Little Girls | Social Worker | |
| 2007 | Motives 2 | | |
| 2007 | Three Can Play That Game | Mrs. Thompson | |
| 2008 | One Missed Call | Coroner | |
| 2008 | Conjurer | Dr. McKenzie | |
| 2009 | Mississippi Damned | Gloria | |
| 2010 | Blood Done Sign My Name | Elizabeth Chavis | |
| 2012 | The Governor's Daughters | Ms. Anderson | |
| 2013 | The Sacrament | Wendy | |
| 2014 | Comeback Dad | Jeannette | |
| 2014 | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 | D8 Old Woman | |
| 2014 | The Productive Lie | Niecy | |
| 2015 | Red All Over | Patricia Wright | |
| 2016 | The Fundamentals of Caring | Caregiving Instructor | |
| 2016 | Girl from Compton | Meme | |
| 2016 | Confirmation | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Television film |
| 2016 | Hidden Figures | Mrs. Joylette Coleman | |
| 2017 | Girls Trip | Delores | |
| 2017 | A Question of Faith | Patricia Newman | |
| 2018 | Tell Me Your Name | Dr. Liles | |
| 2018 | The Beach House | Flo | Television film |
| 2018 | Night School | Gladys Walker | |
| 2020 | Black Girl Magic | Martha | |
| 2022 | The In Between | Doris | |
| 2022 | The Visitor | Margaret Delacroix | |

### Television

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1990-1993 | In the Heat of the Night | Laura Ulmer / Mrs. Johnson / Cora Tyler | 4 episodes |
| 2008 | Army Wives | Allison Lyall | Episode: "Payback" |
| 2010 | One Tree Hill | Judge | Episode: "Weeks Go by Like Days" |
| 2012 | Drop Dead Diva | Dr. Colette Willis | Episode: "Winning Ugly" |
| 2013 | Necessary Roughness | Felicia Purnell | Episode: "The Fall Guy" |
| 2013 | Nashville | Elizabeth | Episode: "A Picture from Life's Other Side" |
| 2014 | Star-Crossed | Gloria's Mother | Episodes: "Dreamers Often Lie" and "Our Toil Shall Strive to Mend" |
| 2014 | Rectify | Mrs. Whitman | Episode: "Donald the Normal" |
| 2016-2020 | Greenleaf | Clara Jackson | Recurring role, 10 episodes |
| 2017 | Being Mary Jane | | Episode: "Getting Served" |
| 2017 | Shots Fired | Mabel | Episode: "Hour Four: Truth" |
| 2017–2022 | Saints & Sinners | Lady Leona Byrd | Recurring (season 2), Series regular (season 3-6), 33 episodes |
| 2019 | Jack Ryan | Yvonne Bishop | Episode: "Tertia Optio" |
| 2019 | Ambitions | Irene Carlisle | Recurring role, 9 episodes |
| 2020 | Outer Banks | Beck | Episode: "Dead Calm" |
| 2021-2022 | All the Queen's Men | Patrice Ellis | Recurring role, 7 episodes |
| 2022 | Ozark | Lori | Episodes: "City on the Make" and "Sanctified" |
| 2022 | Sweet Magnolias | Winell Martin | Episodes: "The Rules of the Game" and "Fragile Things" |
| 2022 | Woke | Annie Malone | Episode: "Black Trauma V" |
| 2022 | All Rise | Mildred Brewer | Episodes: "It Ain't Over Till It's Over" and "Trouble Man" |
