Rolonda Watts

Rolonda Watts (born July 12, 1959) is an American actress, producer, voice over artist, novelist, motivational speaker, and television and radio talk show host. She is best known for hosting the eponymous Rolonda, an internationally syndicated talk show which aired from 1994 to 1997. Watts was the on-camera announcer for Judge Joe Brown, which ended its run in 2013. She is currently the on-camera announcer for Divorce Court.

Rolonda Watts
Watts in 2008
Born (1959-07-12) July 12, 1959
NationalityAmerican
EducationSpelman College
OccupationActress, television host, radio host, producer
Years active1988–present
Websiterolonda.com

Biography

Early life and education

Watts's mother, Dr. Velma Gibson Watts, was an associate dean at Wake Forest University and her father, Roland Watts, was chairman of Winston-Salem State University's Fine Arts Department. Watts attended Salem Academy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as a teenager. She is a graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta, where she was editor-in-chief of the school newspaper and graduated magna cum laude. In 1981, she earned a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Career

After graduating from Columbia, Watts returned to North Carolina and began her career as a general assignment reporter at WFMY-TV in Greensboro, North Carolina. She later worked at WNBC, where she was nominated for an Emmy, and WABC-TV in New York as an anchor of a weekly political forum and reporter. In 1987, she began working as a host of Attitudes, a talk show on Lifetime Television. The next year, she took a job on the newsmagazine Inside Edition as a senior correspondent, weekend anchor and producer. King World Productions, the syndicator of Inside Edition and also The Oprah Winfrey Show, then asked her to start her own talk show. Rolonda aired for nearly four seasons from January 17, 1994 to September 1997. Watts was also supervising producer and one of the owners of the show. In a 2003 interview with Soap Opera Digest, Watts said she folded the show rather than lose her integrity.[1] "Audiences were saying, 'Well, that was really nice of you to be so respectful, but where's Jerry [Springer]?' We had to make a tough decision, either we go that route or we find something else to do."

After leaving her talk show behind, Watts headed to Hollywood to pursue a career in acting. Her first break was in 1997 when she was cast as Vivica Shaw in Sister, Sister, a role she played for six episodes. Since then Watts has had guest starring roles in dozens of television shows, including The West Wing, JAG, The District Yes, Dear, and soap operas Days of Our Lives and The Bold and the Beautiful. In 2002, Soap Opera Digest named her "Scene Stealer of the Week" for her role as the cut-throat Attorney Cameron Reese on Days of our Lives. Watts is also the CEO/president of her own production company, Watts Works Productions, which co-produced her talk show Rolonda. In 2005, she hosted Lie Detector, a reality series for PAX-TV. That same year, she took over as announcer on Judge Joe Brown. She also appeared on Live With Regis and Kelly where she traveled cross-country as a judge for the show's "Great American Co-Host Search."

In October 2006, Watts returned to her talk-show roots. She signed with GreenStone Media, a radio network launched by feminists Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda, to host an afternoon radio show.[2] She hosted the show until the network's closure in August 2007. Subsequently, Watts served as announcer for the game show Temptation, which ran from September 2007 to May 2008. As of 2011, Watts is the voice of Professor Wiseman in the PBS Kids animated program Curious George, as well as voicing "Gladys" in the Nickelodeon series The Penguins of Madagascar. Watts is currently shooting two films, with five others waiting for release, including her first starring role in A Mother's Love and leading roles in Christmas Mail, House Arrest, Soul Ties, Broken Roads and 25 Hill, a film written and produced by Corbin Bernsen. In the short film Return to Babylon, Watts portrays Josephine Baker; in Defying the Stars. she plays Hollywood legend Dorothy Dandridge. She recently played the role of Betsy Holiday in Tyler Perry's first animated film Madea's Tough Love.

In between the months of June and August of 2017, Rolonda begun her stand up career and was offered a radio show from CBS Radio entitled Sundays with Rolonda. Rolonda begun starting her own webseries entitled ROmance via YouTube; she also starred in Bounce TV's sitcom series, Mann & Wife as a choir director in a principal casting role.

Film

Year Title Role
1996 Girl 6 Reporter Nita
1996 The Stupids Talk Show Hostess
1997 Meet Wally Sparks Herself
2010 Christmas Mail Sally Covington
2011 Tim Alexander's A Mother's Love Regina Reynolds
2011 25 Hill Mrs. Banner
2012 House Arrest Parole Officer Grimes
2012 I Will Follow You Into The Dark Eunice
2012 Broken Roads Shirley
2013 Return to Babylon Josephine Baker
2013 House Party: Tonight's the Night Victoria
2015 Madea's Tough Love Betsy Holiday

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1992 Lifestories: Families in Crisis Reporter Season 1, Episode 5 Blood Brothers: The Joey DiPaolo Story (HBO)
1998 Smart Guy Lydia Season 3, Episode 5 That's My Momma (WB)
1997-98 Sister, Sister Vivica Shaw Six Episodes, (WB)
1999 The Jamie Foxx Show Bonita Walters Season 3, Episode 19 Fire and Desire Pt.2 (WB)
2000 The Steve Harvey Show Janet Season 4, Episode 13 Guess Who's Not Coming to Counseling (WB)
2000 The West Wing Melissa Season 1, Episode 17 The White House Pro-Am (NBC)
2000 Rude Awakening Lawyer Season 3, Episode 6 Me, Myself and I (Showtime)
2001 The Division Doctor Season 1, Episode 6 Secrets and Lies
2001 7th Heaven Sylvia Carter Two Episodes, (WB)
2001 The District Mrs. Waters Season 2, Episode 10 Thursday (CBS)
2002 For Your Love Dr. Covington Season 5, Episode 1 The "What I Done" Show (WB)
2002-08 Days of Our Lives Cameron Reese 13 Episodes (NBC)
2003 One on One Dr. Taylor Season 2, Episode 15 The Test (UPN)
2003 Maniac Magee Mrs. Beale TV Movie, (Nickelodeon)
2003 Boston Public Monica Clemens Season 3, Episode 20 Chapter Sixty-Four (Fox)
2003 The Proud Family Reshanda Watson Season 3, Episode 4 Election (Disney Channel)
2003 The Bold and the Beautiful Julie Shoemaker Five Episodes, (CBS)
1994-1997 Rolonda Herself 4 Seasons, 1100+ Episodes (Kind World Productions)
2004 Yes, Dear Sylvia Season 4, Episode 16 Dead Aunt, Dead Aunt (CBS)
2004 Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide Ms. Morrison Season 1, Episode 3 Teachers and Detention (Nickelodeon)
2004 My Wife and Kids Angeline Boudreaux Season 5, Episode 6 Poker Face (ABC)
2004 JAG Judge Deborah Mayfield Season 10, Episode 7 Camp Delta (CBS)
2005 Complete Savages Claire Season 1, Episode 18 Bad Reception (ABC)
2005 Lie Detector Host
2007 Temptation Announcer TV Game Show (Syndication)
2008 Can You Teach My Alligator Manners Mrs. Sullivan (Voice) Season 1, Episode 6 Classroom Manners (Disney Channel)
2008-10 Curious George Prof. Wiseman (Voice) Four Episodes, (PBS)
2009 Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas Prof. Wiseman (Voice) TV Movie (PBS)
2011-12 The Penguins of Madagascar Gladys (Voice) Three Episodes (Nickelodeon)
2012 Good Luck Charlie Diane Van der Weiss Season 3, Episode 3 Amy Needs a Shower (Disney Channel)
2016 Kulipari: An Army of Frogs Chief Olba (Voice) Recurring role
2019 Cannon Busters Mumbles, Mama Hitch, Additional Voices English dub
2019 Psycho Nurse Dr. Keller Supporting character (Lifetime Movie Channel)
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References

  1. Soap Opera Digest interview, 2003
  2. "GreenStone gives women an outlet," The Boston Globe, October 19, 2006
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