Famous Like Me > Actress > V > Danitra Vance
Profile of Danitra Vance
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Name: |
Danitra Vance |
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Date of Birth: |
13th July 1954 |
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Place of Birth: |
Chicago, Illinois, USA |
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Profession: |
Actress |
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From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia Danitra Vance (July 13, 1954 - August 21, 1994) was an actress best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live during the 1985-86 season. She was awarded an NAACP Image Award in 1986 and later won an Obie Award for her performance in the theatrical adaptation of Spunk, a collection of short stories written by Zora Neale Hurston.
SNL work
Vance was the first African American woman to become a SNL repertory player. She is best remembered for the sketch "That Black Girl", a spoof of the 1960s sitcom That Girl, and for her character Cabrini Green, an urban teenager named after a Chicago housing project.
Vance became frustrated and ultimately left SNL because her roles in sketches were mostly limited to prostitutes and maids. Perhaps adding to her frustration was her dyslexia, which according to an SNL Trivial Pursuit question made it hard for her to read from cue cards. Her final performance included a song called "I Played the Maid," a tribute to black women in Hollywood.
Other work
Vance had small roles in The War of the Roses and Little Man Tate and a more significant role in Jumpin' at the Boneyard, for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.
Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1990, Vance underwent a single mastectomy and incorporated the experience into a solo skit, "The Radical Girl's Guide to Radical Mastectomy." Unfortunately, the cancer recurred in 1993 and she died the following year at the age of 40.
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