Lynn Thigpen

Lynne Thigpen
Thigpen as Miss Barrett in the 1989 dramatized biographical film Lean On Me
Born	Cherlynne Theresa Thigpen (1948-12-22)December 22, 1948 Joliet, Illinois, U.S.
Died	March 12, 2003(2003-03-12) (aged 54) Marina del Rey, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Cerebral Hemorrhage
Resting place	Elmhurst Cemetery, (Joliet, Illinois)
Other names	Lynne Richmond
Education	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1971–2003
Awards	1992 Obie Award – (Boesman and Lena) 1997 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play – (An American Daughter) 1999 Obie Award – (Jar the Floor)

Cherlynne Theresa "Lynne" Thigpen (December 22, 1948 – March 12, 2003) was an American actress, best known for her role as "The Chief" of ACME in the various Carmen Sandiego television series and computer games from 1991 to 1997. For her varied television work, Thigpen was nominated for six Daytime Emmy Awards; she won a Tony Award in 1997 for portraying Dr. Judith Kaufman in An American Daughter.

Born in Joliet, Illinois, Thigpen obtained a degree in teaching. She taught English in high school briefly while studying theatre and dance at the University of Illinois.

Thigpen moved to New York City in 1971 to begin her career as a stage actress. She had a long and prolific theater career and appeared in numerous musicals including Godspell, The Night That Made America Famous, The Magic Show, Working, Tintypes, and An American Daughter (for which she won her Tony Award for her portrayal of Dr. Judith Kaufman in 1997).

Her first feature film role was as Lynne in Godspell (1973), co-starring opposite Victor Garber and David Haskell. Thigpen also portrayed a radio DJ (shown only from the nose down) in Walter Hill's The Warriors (1979), and Leonna Barrett, the mother of an expelled student, in Lean on Me (1989), the story of famous American high school principal Joe Louis Clark. She had a role in the remake of Shaft (2000) (as Carla Howard, the mother of a murder victim), and played the Second President of the World Congress in Bicentennial Man (1999). Her last film was Anger Management (2003), starring Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson (which was released only a month after her death and paid tribute to her in the end credits).