Lynn Hamilton, the theater-trained actress best known for her roles as Donna Harris on “Sanford and Son” and Miss Verdie on “The Waltons,” died Thursday of natural causes at her home in Chicago, her former manager Rev. Calvin Carson told The Hollywood Reporter.
She was 95.
Hamilton portrays Fred Sanford’s girlfriend Donna on the 1970s sitcom “Sanford and Son” opposite Redd Foxx. The guest producers were so impressed with her initial appearance that they brought her back as a recurring love interest for Fred, though the characters never married much to the relief of Fred’s son Lamont, who called her “The Barracuda.”
While appearing on “Sanford and Son,” Hamilton also had a recurring role as the neighborly Verdie on the family drama “The Waltons” beginning in 1973. Her character learned to read and write from John-Boy Walton. Hamilton appeared in over a dozen episodes of the series through the early 1980s.
Her other notable TV roles include matriarch Vivian Potter on the NBC soap “Generations,” Cissie Johnson on the nighttime drama “Dangerous Women,” and recurring parts on “Roots: The Next Generations,” “227,” and “The Practice.”
Born in Mississippi in 1930, Hamilton was raised in Chicago where she graduated from the Goodman School of Drama. After struggling to find roles as a Black actress, she moved to New York and made her screen debut in the 1959 film “Shadows.” She appeared on Broadway in several plays in the late ’50s and early ’60s.
Hamilton went on to have a prolific career as a character actress, with film credits including “Brother John,” “Buck and the Preacher,” “Lady Sings the Blues,” and “Legal Eagles.” Her many TV guest roles spanned from “Gunsmoke” and “The Rockford Files” to “The Golden Girls” and “NYPD Blue.”
She was married to poet and playwright Frank Jenkins from 1964 until his death in 2014. Hamilton moved back to Chicago after her husband passed away. The couple collaborated on several stage productions together during their marriage.
