Loretta Devine

Loretta Devine is an American actress and singer, best known for her roles as Marla Hendricks in the Fox drama series Boston Public, and for her recurring role as Adele Webber on the Shonda Rhimes Greys Anatomy, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in 2011. She had a role in the series Everybody Hates Chris as Rochelles mother. In film, Devine appeared in Waiting to Exhale, The Preachers Wife, I Am Sam, Urban Legend, Crash, Woman Thou Art Loosed, For Colored Girls, This Christmas and Jumping the Broom. She currently plays Cynthia Carmichael on the NBC sitcom The Carmichael Show.

Devine was born in Houston, Texas. Her mother, Eunice ONeal , was a beautician, and her father, James Devine, worked as a laborer. She grew up in the Acres Homes area of Houston. She was very active on the pep squad, and performed in talent shows at George Washington Carver High School. Devine graduated from the University of Houston in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts in Speech and Drama and Brandeis University in 1976 with a MFA in Theater. Devine was initiated into Alpha Kappa Alpha the Epsilon Lambda Chapter.

Source: Wikipedia