Salli Richardson

Salli Elise Richardson-Whitfield (born Salli Elise Richardson, November 23, 1967^[1] ) is an American actress and television director. Richardson is known for her role as Angela in the film A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994) and for her role as Dr. Allison Blake on the Syfy comedy-drama series Eureka (2006–2012).

She is also known for her voice acting as Elisa Maza on the Disney animated series Gargoyles (1994–1996),^[2] and as Viveca Foster on the CBS series Family Law (1999–2002). Richardson also has appeared in a number of other films such as The Great White Hype (1996), Antwone Fisher (2002), Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004) and I Am Legend (2007). She had leading roles in the independent films Pastor Brown (2009), Black Dynamite (2009) and I Will Follow (2010). In the 2010s, Richardson started working as a television director.

Richardson was born in Chicago, Illinois.^[3] Her mother is of African American ancestry (with distant Cherokee roots), and her father was of English and Italian descent.^[4] She played tennis in high school at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, and launched her acting career in the Kuumba Workshop theater there; she graduated in 1985.^[5]

Richardson "began her acting career in the theater before transitioning to roles in television and film".^[6] In film, she played small roles in Prelude to a Kiss , Mo' Money , Posse , and later had major roles in Sioux City and A Low Down Dirty Shame . From 1994 to 1996 she voiced the character Elisa Maza on the animated series Gargoyles .^[2] She had many guest-starring roles in numerous television shows, such as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , New York Undercover , The Pretender , Stargate SG-1 , NYPD Blue , House , Bones , Criminal Minds , NCIS and Castle .^[7]

Richardson starred opposite Dixie Carter and Kathleen Quinlan in the CBS legal drama series, Family Law , from 1999 to 2002. She had recurring roles as Nancy Adams on Rude Awakening , and as Laura on CSI: Miami . She starred opposite Denzel Washington in the 2002 drama film Antwone Fisher .^[8] She also appeared in the 2004 horror film Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid , and starred opposite Will Smith in 2007's post-apocalyptic film I Am Legend .^[8] She later had a leading role in the independent dramas Pastor Brown (2009), and in I Will Follow (2010) directed by Ava DuVernay.^{[8] [9]} She also starred in The Sin Seer with Isaiah Washington, set for 2015 release.^[10]

From 2006 to 2012, Richardson starred as Department of Defense agent (and later head of Global Dynamics) Allison Blake in the Syfy comedy-drama series Eureka . Her second pregnancy was written into the storyline of the series.^[6] After the series' cancellation, she was cast as the lead in the Lifetime drama pilot The Secret Lives of Wives.^[11] In 2014, Richardson was cast in a recurring role on Lifetime's The Lottery as the first lady of the United States,^[12] but she lost it to Shelley Conn;^[13] She also has a role on BET's Being Mary Jane as an old friend of the lead character.^{[14] [15]} In 2015, Richardson was cast in the ABC Family series, Stitchers .^[16] The series was canceled after three seasons in 2017.^[17]

Richardson has also worked as a director of episodic television, her latest being episodes 5 and 6 of the first season of Wheel of Time for Amazon. Following her directorial debut on two episodes of her show Eureka ,^[18] in 2016 she directed two episodes of Ava DuVernay's drama series for Oprah Winfrey Network, Queen Sugar (on which her husband Dondre Whitfield appears as a series regular).^[19] In 2016, Richardson also directed an episode of the historical action-drama Underground for WGN America.^[20] In 2017, she directed two episodes of BET drama Rebel , and Shonda Rhimes' Scandal . Her comedy directing credits include Survivor's Remorse , I'm Dying Up Here , Black-ish and Dear White People . In 2018, she also directed the 16th episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 's fifth-season episode "Inside Voices".^[21] Her other notable directing credits include Chicago Med , Luke Cage , Black Lightning , The Punisher , American Gods , See and Altered Carbon .^[22]

In 2019, Richardson received an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series nomination for her work directing Luke Cage.^[23] Also in 2019, she won a Black Reel Award for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series for directing Black-ish.^[24] In September 2020, she signed a project development deal with HBO.^[25] Richardson produces and had had directed episodes of HBO period drama The Gilded Age and Adam McKay's untitled Lakers project.^[25] Also in 2020, she directed the Zoom Where It Happens special The One with the Diverse Cast, a Friends one-night reboot starring Sterling K. Brown, Uzo Aduba, Ryan Michelle Bathe, Aisha Hinds, Kendrick Sampson and Jeremy Pope.^[26]

On September 8, 2002, she married long-time boyfriend and fellow actor Dondre Whitfield. She and Whitfield have one daughter and one son.^[27]

• Salli Richardson at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
• Salli Richardson at TV Guide
• Salli Richardson on Twitter Edit this at Wikidata

• 1967 births
• 20th-century African-American actresses
• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century African-American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses
• Actresses from Chicago
• American film actresses
• American television actresses
• American people of English descent
• American people of Italian descent
• American people who self-identify as being of Cherokee descent
• American voice actresses
• Living people
• University of Chicago Laboratory Schools alumni
• American women television directors
• American television directors
• 20th-century African-American people
• 21st-century African-American people

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from October 2023
• Articles with hCards
• Commons category link is on Wikidata