Marsha Stephanie Blake

Marsha Stephanie Blake
Blake in production of The Merchant of Venice (2010)
Born (1974-05-03) 3 May 1974 (age 50)
Jamaica
Alma materDartmouth College
UCSD (MFA)
OccupationActress
Years active2002–present
Children1

Marsha Stephanie Blake (born 3 May 1974) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Linda McCray in the Netflix miniseries When They See Us, for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.[1]

Life and career

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Blake was born in Jamaica and emigrated to the United States in the late 1980s with her family.[2] She attended Dartmouth College and graduated in 1996.[3] She received an MFA from the graduate acting program at UCSD.[4]

Blake has played many roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, including The Merchant of Venice, Come and Gone, The Crucible, An Octoroon, and Hurt Village.[5] On television, she guest-starred in Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Third Watch, Elementary, and The Good Wife.

In 2015, Blake joined the cast of the Netflix comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black playing Berdie Rogers.[5] Along with the cast, she received the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.[6] She also had recurring roles on Happyish, Getting On and The Blacklist. In 2019, Blake played Linda McCray in the Netflix miniseries When They See Us directed by Ava DuVernay.[7][8][2] Later in 2019, Blake was cast as Vivian Maddox in How to Get Away with Murder for the sixth and final season,[9] and in fourth season of This Is Us opposite her When They See Us co-star, Asante Blackk.[10]

Blake also has appeared in a number of movies, including The Architect (2006), Stand Clear of the Closing Doors (2013), Nasty Baby (2015), Person to Person (2017), Crown Heights (2017), The Wilde Wedding (2017), Luce (2019), See You Yesterday (2019), The Laundromat (2019), and I'm Your Woman (2020).[11][12] She received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Supporting Performance in a Film at the 11th Canadian Screen Awards in 2023, for her performance as Ruth in the drama film Brother.[13]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2003 A-Alike Jada Short film
2006 The Architect Missy Neeley
2007 Lifted Nadine Short film
2012 Django Unchained House Slave Deleted scene
2013 Stand Clear of the Closing Doors Carmen
2014 The Story of Milo & Annie Shirley Short film
2015 Nasty Baby Mo's Sister / Haimy
2015 Our Nation Margaret
2017 Person to Person Janet
2017 Crown Heights Briana
2017 Imitation Girl Karen
2017 The Wilde Wedding Officer Brady
2019 Luce Rosemary Wilson
2019 Goldie Carol
2019 See You Yesterday Phaedra
2019 The Laundromat Vincelle Boncamper
2020 The Photograph Violet Eames
2020 An American Pickle Inspector Sanders
2020 I'm Your Woman Teri
2022 Brother Ruth Nominated — Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Film
Nominated — Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Canadian Film

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2002 Third Watch Myrna Addison Episode: "Cold Front"
2004 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Maria Episode: "Outcry"
2005 Law & Order Clinic Doctor Episode: "Locomotion"
2006 Six Degrees Nanny Episode: "Pilot"
2011 The Big C Vampire Nurse Episode: "Boo!"
2011 A Gifted Man Kelly Jones 2 episodes
2013 Elementary Melanie Cullen Episode: "M."
2014 Girls Publisher Episode: "Only Child"
2014 Chicago P.D. Janice Watkins Episode: "Prison Ball"
2015 Orange Is the New Black Berdie Rogers 8 episodes
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
2015 Happyish Michelle 4 episodes
2015 Public Morals Tina Episode: "Collection Day"
2015 The Good Wife Maia Sachs Episode: "Taxed"
2015 Getting On Yvette Ortley 3 episodes
2016–2019 The Blacklist Janet MacNamara 2 episodes
2018 Quantico Leslie Thomas Episode: "Bullet Train"
2019 When They See Us Linda McCray Miniseries
Black Reel Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress, TV Movie/Limited Series
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Limited Series
African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Nominated – Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Miniseries
2019–2020 How to Get Away with Murder Vivian Maddox 5 episodes
2019 This Is Us Kelly Hodges 2 episodes
2020 FBI: Most Wanted Denise Tyson Episode: "Defender"
2022 The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey Niecie Main role
2023 Wilderness Detective Rawlings 3 episodes
2024 Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist Upcoming miniseries

References

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  1. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (July 16, 2019). "Emmy Nominations See Major Decline In Diversity And Inclusion".
  2. ^ a b Sarachan, Risa. "Marsha Stephanie Blake Shines As Linda McCray In Netflix's Unflinching When They See Us". Forbes.
  3. ^ "Upside-down World", Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, retrieved March 10, 2020
  4. ^ "Shakespeare in Black and White: An Interview with Marsha Stephanie Blake". San Diego Voice & Viewpoint. 6 July 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Who Plays Berdie Rogers On 'OITNB'?". Bustle. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  6. ^ "Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture - SAG Awards: The Complete Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. 29 January 2017. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  7. ^ Petski, Denise (3 August 2018). "Ava DuVernay's Central Park Five Drama Adds Niecy Nash, Aunjanue Ellis, Kylie Bunbury, Marsha Stephanie Blake and Storm Reid To Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  8. ^ Turchiano, Danielle (April 19, 2019). "Ava DuVernay's Central Park Five Series When They See Us Gets First Trailer on Netflix". Variety. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  9. ^ Otterson, Joe (August 29, 2019). "How to Get Away With Murder Season 6 Adds Marsha Stephanie Blake". Variety. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  10. ^ "'This Is Us' Season 4 Trailer: Omar Epps, Asante Blackk And Marsha Stephanie Blake Join Mysterious Upcoming Season". shadowandact.com.
  11. ^ Schager, Nick (May 10, 2019). "Tribeca Film Review: See You Yesterday". Variety. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  12. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 12, 2019). "Marsha Stephanie Blake & Arinzé Kene Join Amazon Rachel Brosnahan Feature 'I'm Your Woman'".
  13. ^ Etan Vlessing, "Canadian Screen Awards: TV Drama ‘The Porter’ Leads With 19 Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter, February 22, 2023.
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