Sanaa Lathan | |
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![]() Lathan at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con International
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Born |
Sanaa McCoy Lathan September 19, 1971 New York City, New York, U.S. |
Alma mater |
University of California, Berkeley Yale School of Drama |
Occupation | Actress, voice actress |
Years active | 1996–present |
Parent(s) |
Stan Lathan Eleanor McCoy |
Sanaa McCoy Lathan (born September 19, 1971) is an American actress and voice actress. She has starred in many films, including the box-office hit The Best Man and its 2013 sequel, Love & Basketball, Brown Sugar, Alien vs. Predator and The Family That Preys. Lathan was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance on Broadway in A Raisin in the Sun. From 2009 to 2013, she voiced Donna Tubbs in The Cleveland Show. In 2010, she starred in the all-black performance of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Novello Theatre in London.
Lathan was born in New York City. Her first name means "art" in Swahili and "shining light" in Arabic. She is of African American and Native American descent. Her mother, Eleanor McCoy, was an actress and dancer who performed on Broadway with Eartha Kitt. Her father, Stan Lathan, worked behind the scenes in television for PBS, as well as a producer on shows such as Sanford & Son and Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam. Her brother is Tendaji Lathan, a well known DJ. She attended Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics.