Angela Bassett Age, Height, Husband, Net Worth & Biography

Angela Bassett is an American actress best known as Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do with It, as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther and as Bernadine Harris in Waiting to Exhale. Born on August 16, 1958, in New York City, Bassett, 68, is one of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation, with two Academy Award nominations, an Honorary Academy Award, and a career in film, television and theatre that includes Strange Days, 9-1-1 and American Horror Story.

Quick Facts

Who Is Angela Bassett?

Angela Bassett is an actress whose performances have earned her a place among the greatest actresses of her generation. As Tina Turner, the singer who escapes an abusive marriage, in What’s Love Got to Do with It (1993), Bassett played a woman who is strong, talented and, in the end, triumphant, and her performance, in which she lip-synced to Turner’s vocals, earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. She is also known as Queen Ramonda, the mother of T’Challa, in Black Panther (2018) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), a performance that earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and as Bernadine Harris, a wife who sets fire to her husband’s belongings after he leaves her, in Waiting to Exhale (1995).

Beyond those roles, Bassett has shown a wide range. She played Betty Shabazz, the wife of Malcolm X, in Malcolm X (1992), and she played Katherine, a singer, in What’s Love Got to Do with It, opposite Laurence Fishburne, who played Ike Turner. She starred in Strange Days (1995), in which she played Lornette “Mace” Mason, a limo driver, in Vampire in Brooklyn (1995), in How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), and in Music of the Heart (1999). She plays Athena Grant, a police sergeant, in 9-1-1 (2018-), and she has played in American Horror Story (2013-2018), in which she played characters such as Marie Laveau and Desiree Dupree.

Early Life & Background

Angela Evelyn Bassett was born in New York City, the daughter of Betty, a social worker, and Daniel, who worked in a car factory. She was raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, where she attended Boca Ciega High School. She went on to study African-American studies at Yale University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1980, and at the Yale School of Drama, where she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1983.

She began acting on stage, appearing in the Broadway production of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (1984), and she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for The Mountaintop (2011), in which she played Camae, a maid. She made her film debut in F/X (1986), in which she played a TV reporter, and she appeared in Boyz n the Hood (1991), in which she played Reva Devereaux, the mother of Tré Styles, in Malcolm X, and in What’s Love Got to Do with It, which brought her to wide attention as a film actress.

Career

Bassett’s career in film includes F/X, Boyz n the Hood, Malcolm X, What’s Love Got to Do with It, Waiting to Exhale, Strange Days, Vampire in Brooklyn, Contact (1997), How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Music of the Heart, Boesman and Lena (2000), The Score (2001), Sunshine State (2002), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Akeelah and the Bee (2006), Meet the Robinsons (2007), Jumping the Broom (2011), Olympus Has Fallen (2013), Black Panther, Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Damsel (2024). She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for What’s Love Got to Do with It and for Best Supporting Actress for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and she won an Honorary Academy Award in 2023.

On television, Bassett has played in American Horror Story, in 9-1-1, in which she plays Athena Grant, in Master of None (2017), and in Zero Day (2025), in which she played President Evelyn Mitchell. She married Courtney B. Vance, an actor, in 1997, and they have twins together: Bronwyn and Slater, born in 2006. She is known for her work as an actress, as a producer, and for a career that has lasted for more than forty years.

Facts About Angela Bassett

• She played Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do with It (1993), earning an Academy Award nomination.
• She played Queen Ramonda in Black Panther (2018) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).
• She won an Honorary Academy Award in 2023 and a Golden Globe Award for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
• She plays Athena Grant in 9-1-1 (2018-) and has starred in American Horror Story.
• She has been married to Courtney B. Vance since 1997, and they have twins together.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Trending Profiles

Discover more profiles on The Celeb IO: Morgan Freeman Age & Biography, Denzel Washington Age & Biography, Tom Hanks Age & Biography and Tom Cruise Age & Biography.