Debbi Morgan

Born: September 20 1946
Where: Dunn, North Carolina, USA

The respected actress first attracted attention opposite Samuel L Jackson in the melodrama Eve's Bayou in 1997.

Earlier appearances for Morgan - who was raised in New York's Bronx - have included small roles in Mandingo, Taxi Driver and Amazing Grace.

However, it was her role as Alex Haley's great aunt Elizabeth in the celebrated TV mini-series Roots: The Next Generations in 1979 that got her noticed.

After moving to New York aged three months, the family lived in a South Bronx housing project.

Her father died when she was eight, leaving her mother to raise her and her sister alone and she was soon making commercials and subsequently acting on Broadway.

Other film appearances have included the Spawn horror series, the romantic comedy She's All That with Freddie Prinze Jr and The Hurricane with Denzel Washington.

In 2000, she appeared in the romantic drama Love & Basketball and went on to reteam with Jackson for the basketball drama Coach Carter.