Radio BOSS Goes One-on-One: Sheryl Lee Ralph

Sheryl Lee Ralph is a legend. After making her film debut in A Piece of the Action, she went on to star in in the Broadway musical Dreamgirls as Deena Jones in 1981, for which she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. And as they say, the rest was history. She went on to star opposite Denzel Washington in The Mighty Quinn. In 1991, she received Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female for her role in the drama film To Sleep with Anger. She played in many other movies and television shows and one of her most notable roles was that of Dee Mitchell in the TV series Moesha. Ms. Ralph talked with Donal about her career, about her iconic role in Dreamgirls, about her role in Moesha and how she is now recognized by a younger generation, about how she was treated by then received an apology from iconic producer Bud Yorkin, and about directing the film Like, Comment, Subscribe.

…you had a team of white producers, writers, directors, on this show and they said I was not Black enough. He said that my complete being just was not good enough to play a Black woman. Twenty or 30 years later, I ran into him and he looked at me and said I am sorry…

Ralph on what the late Bud Yorkin said to her at her audition for role on Sanord Arms.

Tagged as: Donal Ware, Denzel Washington, conversation, interview, Radio BOSS Podcast, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Dreamgirls, SanfordArms, Bud Yorkin, Moesha, A Piece of the Action, Tony Award.