Jo Marie Payton

Jo Marie Payton (born August 3, 1950)<ref name=A&E>Template:Cite web</ref> is an American actress. She portrayed Harriette Baines Winslow on the ABC/CBS sitcom Family Matters (1989–1997), a role she originated on its forerunner series Perfect Strangers. From 2001 to 2005, Payton provided the voice for Suga Mama Proud (Penny Proud's paternal grandmother) on Disney Channel's animated series The Proud Family and reprised the role in the 2005 television film The Proud Family Movie and also on Disney+'s revival The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.<ref name=A&E /> The role earned her an NAACP Image Award nomination in 2005.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Payton also had a recurring role as the personal assistant to Gregory Hines' character, Ben Doucette (Will Truman's boss), during season two of Will & Grace (1999–2000).

Early life and education

Jo Marie Payton was born on August 3, 1950, in Albany, Georgia.<ref name="A&E" /> Sometime during her early teens, her family relocated to Opa-locka, Florida. Payton attended high school at North Dade Jr./ Sr. High School and later graduated from Miami Carol City Senior High School in 1968.<ref name=FB>Template:Cite web</ref> Continuing her education, Payton graduated from Albany State University.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She then moved to California, where she joined the national touring company of the musical Purlie.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

Payton's big break came when she was cast as Harriette Winslow, the elevator operator on the ABC sitcom Perfect Strangers, in 1987.<ref name=HD/> Her performance was so well received by audiences that she was given her own sitcom, Family Matters, in 1989. Continuing her character Harriette Winslow from Perfect Strangers, she played a mother in a middle-class black family living in Chicago, Illinois. Payton left Family Matters partway through its final season, appearing for the last time on December 19, 1997, during increasing tension between her and star Jaleel White (the two nearly came to blows and had to be physically separated during Payton's penultimate episode).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Harriette Winslow was played by Judyann Elder in the show's remaining eight episodes.

In 2002, Payton appeared on the "TV Moms" episode of the Anne Robinson version of The Weakest Link,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was the third one voted off. In 2003, Payton and her daughter appeared on a Mother's Day episode of Lingo, playing against fellow TV mom Meredith Baxter and her daughter. Baxter and her daughter won. In 2005, Jo Marie Payton provided the voice of Suga Mama in The Proud Family Movie. Her other television credits include Desperate Housewives<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>, Reba, Girlfriends, Wanda at Large,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Judging Amy, The Parkers, Will & Grace, The Hughleys, 7th Heaven, Moesha, The Jamie Foxx Show, 227, Silver Spoons, Small Wonder and The New Odd Couple. She also appeared as Mama in the Canadian television miniseries The Rev.

In 2005, Payton co-hosted the 15th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards with Glynn Turman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In August 2009, she guest starred on Meet the Browns as Shirley Van Owen. Payton then hosted her own show, Second Chance with Jomarie Payton, on the Hometeam Network. In 2012, Payton appeared in the GMC TV special From This Day Forward.

Other ventures

In 2004, in an effort to help raise funds for Virginia Union University, Payton wrote letters to alumni urging them to donate money in amounts from $18.65 to $186,500, in honor of the university's founding date of 1865.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

Until 1998, Payton was married to Rodney Noble.<ref name=JET1>Template:Citation</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	The Plant Family	Geneva (Lyla's friend)	Television film
1980	The Hollywood Knights	Black Lady
1981	Body and Soul	Lady in the ring
1983	Deal of the Century	Baptist #1
1986	Crossroads	Jookhouse Woman #2
1987	Disorderlies	Kool's Mother
1988	Colors	2nd Woman in Recreation Center
1989	Troop Beverly Hills	Saleswoman
2001	Enchos of Enlightenment	Paul's Wife
2002	In the Eyes of Kyana	Olivia	Video
2004	Gas	Loretta
2005	The Proud Family Movie	Suga Mama Proud (voice)	Television film<ref name="btva">Template:Cite web A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref>
	The Rev	Mama	Television film
2011	The Beach Chronicles AGX P2	Mothunevis Omaph	Short
2012	The Beach Chronicles AGX	Mothunevis Omaph	Short
	From This Day Forward	Elena	Television film
2015	Dangerous Lessons	Linda	Television film
	The Flight Before Christmas	Marie	Television film
2016	Jericho	Maebell
	54:17	Violet
2017	A Warrior's Path: Alpha	Essie	Short
2018	The Little Mermaid	Lorene
	Christmas Made to Order	Rachel	Television film
2019	The Beach Bum	Judge
2020	A Very Charming Christmas Town	Estelle	Television film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977–78	Redd Foxx		Recurring cast
1982–83	The New Odd Couple	Mona	Recurring cast
1983	Teachers Only	Yolanda	Episode: "It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To"
1986	Small Wonder	Meter Maid	Episode: "Here Comes the Judge"
1986–87	Silver Spoons	Marie	Recurring cast: seasons 4–5
1987	227	Mrs. Herman	Episode: "The Handwriting on the Wall"
	The Slap Maxwell Story	Bavaria	Episode: "Episode #1.1"
1987–89	Perfect Strangers	Harriette Winslow	Main cast: seasons 3–4
1988	Frank's Place	Mrs. Ross	Episode: "The Recruiting Game"
1989	Small Wonder	Sergeant Pepper	Episode: "The Jailbirds"
1989–97	Family Matters	Harriette Winslow	Main cast
1996	Moesha	Valerie Shaw	Episode: "A Concerted Effort: Part 1"
1998	The Jamie Foxx Show	Janice King	Episode: "Just Don't Do It"
1999	Moesha	Mrs. Campbell	Recurring cast: season 4, guest: season 5
1999–2000	Will & Grace	Mrs. Freeman	Recurring cast: season 2
2000	7th Heaven	Sharon Peacock	Episode: "Liar, Liar"
	City of Angels	Helen	Episode: "Saving Faces"
2001–05	The Proud Family	Suga Mama Proud (voice)	Main cast
2002	The Hughleys	Satin Fontaine	Episode: "Bored of the Rings"
	The Parkers	Ms. Campbell	Episode: "It's Showtime"
2003	Judging Amy	Mrs. Kahn	Episode: "Ex Parte of Five"
	Wanda at Large	Mrs. Hawkins	Episode: "Hurricane Hawkins"
2004	The Big House	Mrs. Jenkins	Episode: "Almost Touched by an Angel"
	Girlfriends	Annette Miles	2 episodes
2005	Lilo & Stitch: The Series	Suga Mama Proud (voice)	Episode: "Spats"
	Reba	Grandma Ruby	Episode: "No Good Deed"
2006	Desperate Housewives	Charlene	Episode: "Thank You So Much"
2009	Meet the Browns	Shirley	Episode: "Meet the Gold Digger"
2010	The Glades	Remelle	Episode: "Mucked Up"
2013	The Rev	Isabelle Starr	Main cast
2015	Chopped	Herself/Contestant	Episode: "Sitcom Moms"
2015–16	Mann & Wife	Lorraine Mann	Main cast: seasons 1–2
2019	Blaze and the Monster Machines	Grandma Ninja (voice)	Episode: "Ninja Soup"
2022–present	The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder	Suga Mama Proud (voice)	Main cast<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="btva" />
2023, 2025	Chibiverse	Suga Mama Proud (voice)	2 episodes
2025	Invincible	Warden (voice)	Episode: "This was Supposed to be Easy"<ref name="btva" />
	Theme Song Takeover	Suga Mama (voice)	Episode: "Suga Mama Takes Over The Proud Family Theme Song!"
	She the People	Cleo Dunkerman

External links

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