Vonetta McGee

Vonetta Lawrence McGee (January 14, 1945 – July 9, 2010) was an American actress.[2] She is best known for her roles during the 1970s, which included blaxploitation films such as Hammer, Melinda, Blacula, Shaft in Africa, Detroit 9000 and 1974's Thomasine & Bushrod alongside her then-boyfriend Max Julien. She was a regular on the 1987 Universal Television situation comedy Bustin' Loose, starring as Mimi Shaw for its only season (1987–88).

Vonetta McGee
McGee in 1975.
Born	Vonetta Lawrence McGee[1] (1945-01-14)January 14, 1945 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Died	July 9, 2010(2010-07-09) (aged 65) Berkeley, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	San Francisco State University
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1968–2007
Spouse(s)	Carl Lumbly ( m. 1987)
Partner(s)	Max Julien (1974–1977)
Children	1

Early life

Born in San Francisco, California, to Lawrence McGee and Alma McGee (née Scott),[3] McGee graduated from San Francisco Polytechnic High School in 1962. She enrolled at San Francisco State University and became involved in acting groups on campus.

Career

McGee landed her first role in 1968, when she performed alongside Jean-Louis Trintignant and Klaus Kinski in Sergio Corbucci's Spaghetti Western The Great Silence, and made her first released film appearance that same year as the eponymous character in the Italian comedy Faustina, which was released before the former film.[1] She later became well known for her parts in the 1972 Blaxploitation films Melinda and Hammer. In the action thriller Shaft in Africa (1973), McGee took the role of Aleme, the daughter of an emir, who teaches John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) Ethiopian geography. Earlier that year she had appeared in a supporting role as an occult priestess in The Norliss Tapes. In 1974, McGee appeared as Thomasine, alongside Max Julien as Bushrod, in the western action film Thomasine & Bushrod, which was intended as a counterpart to the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde. The next year, she starred alongside Clint Eastwood in the action thriller The Eiger Sanction (1975). She appeared in an episode of the TV series Starsky & Hutch named "Black and Blue" in 1979. She appeared as Marlene, the high-energy lot manager, in the 1984 cult classic Repo Man.

Personal life and death

McGee was in a live-in relationship with actor Max Julien during the early-to-mid 1970s. In 1987, McGee married actor Carl Lumbly. They had one child, Brandon, born in 1988. McGee died of cardiac arrest on July 9, 2010, at the age of 65.[2]

Selected filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1968	Faustina	Faustina Ceccarelli
	The Great Silence	Pauline Middleton
1969	The Lost Man	Diane Lawrence
1970	The Kremlin Letter	The Negress
1972	The Big Bust Out	Nada
	Melinda	Melinda
	Blacula	Tina Williams / Luva
	Hammer	Lois
1973	The Norliss Tapes	Mme. Jeckiel
	Shaft in Africa	Aleme
	Detroit 9000	Roby Harris
1974	Thomasine & Bushrod	Thomasine
1975	The Eiger Sanction	Jemima Brown
1977	Brothers	Paula Jones
1977	Foxbat	Toni Hill
1978	Superdome	Sonny
1984	Repo Man	Marlene
1985	Hell Town	Sister Indigo
1990	To Sleep with Anger	Pat
1991	Brother Future	Mortilla
1998	Johnny B Good	Lidia
2007	Black August	Georgia Jackson	(final film role)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	Starsky & Hutch	Joan Meredith	1 episode "Black and Blue"
1984-86	Cagney & Lacey	Claudia Petrie	4 episodes
1987-88	Bustin' Loose	Mimi Shaw	26 episodes
1989-90	L.A. Law	Jackie Williams	7 episodes

References

1. "Vonetta McGee obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
2. McLellan, Dennis (July 15, 2010). "Vonetta McGee dies at 65; film actress during 1970s blaxploitation era". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
3. Margalit Fox (July 16, 2010). "Vonetta McGee, Film and TV Actress, Dies at 65". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-02-15.

External links

• Vonetta McGee on IMDb
• Obituary – LA Times
• Obituary – New York Times
• Vonetta McGee at Find a Grave