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Sanaa Lathan

Sanaa Lathan TV Listings

ChannelDate & TimeTitleBuy
OXYGNSat, Jul 11, 2:00 PMSomething NewBuy
COMEDYSat, Jul 11, 4:30 PMLifeBuy
OXYGNSun, Jul 12, 1:00 AMSomething NewBuy
COMEDYSun, Jul 12, 1:30 PMLifeBuy

Sanaa Lathan Biography

Sanaa Lathan
  • Birth Place: New York, NY
  • Date of Birth / Zodiac Sign: 09/19/1971, Virgo
  • Profession: Actor
Given her stunning looks, it's fitting that Lathan's first name means "work of art" in Swahili. Happily, this bombshell's talent is equal to her aesthetic appeal. The daughter of a Broadway hoofer and veteran TV director Stan Lathan, this "work of art" was inevitably artistically inclined, studying dance and acting as a child. After graduating from the Yale School of Drama, she guested on a number of TV shows, eventually winning a series-regular spot in 1998 on the short-lived Nightline spoof Lateline. That same year, Lathan made much more of an impression with a small but memorably oedipal part as Wesley Snipes' mama in the vampire flick Blade. A string of successively larger roles in African-American-oriented movies upped her profile, two of them — The Wood and 2000's Love & Basketball — opposite her then real-life boyfriend, Omar Epps. In the latter, she and Epps were perfectly matched physically, as both lovers and competitive athletes, and Lathan won a number of awards (Image, Black Reel and BET) for her multifaceted performance. But it was her turn as a butt-kicking beauty in the wildly successful but low-rent 2004 thriller Alien vs. Predator that made her a familiar face to the masses, even if the flick showed off her body more than her brains. (A Tony-nominated turn in the Broadway revival of Raisin in the Sun that same year proved she could still deliver a thoughtful performance.) In 2006, she signed on to the sexy series Nip/Tuck as the mysterious boss of two morally challenged plastic surgeons.
Sanaa Lathan Fast Facts:
  • Her father, Stan Lathan, directed many TV series including Sanford and Son, Barney Miller and Hill Street Blues.
  • Began acting career with guest roles on TV shows such as Family Matters, NYPD Blue and In the House.
  • Gained 20 lbs. for her role in the 2000 TV-movie Disappearing Acts, opposite Wesley Snipes.
    Sanaa Lathan Relationships:
  • Ariel Lathan - Half Sister
  • Colette Lathan - Half Sister
  • Eleanor McCoy - Mother
  • Liliane Lathan - Half Sister
  • Omar Epps - Ex-significant Other
  • Stan Lathan - Father
  • Tendaji - Stepbrother

    • Sanaa Lathan Awards:
  • 2004 Tony: Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play - Nominee

  • College:
  • University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA (BA in English); Yale University, School of Drama, New Haven, CT (MFA)
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