Tamara Tunie
ON SOAP OPERA DIGEST AND WEEKLY ONLINE
SOAP STAR STATS
Tamara Tunie (Jessica, ATWT)
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Tamara Tunie (Jessie, ATWT)
— PGP
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Vital Statistics
- Birthday:
- March 14
- Marital Status:
- To Gregory Generet since October, 1995
- Children:
- None
The 411
Born into a family of five children outside of Pittsburgh, PA, Tamara Tunie was raised in the funeral home where her father worked, a childhood that she insists was actually quite normal. She earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from Carnegie-Mellon University, was discovered by an agent while doing summer stock and soon moved to New York City, which would become her beloved new hometown. ("My mother will say I was born in Pittsburgh, but I was a New Yorker from day one," she has said). More than 20 years after arriving in the Big Apple, Tunie has become a quintessential New York actress, appearing constantly in theater and as a guest or recurring character on just about every television series filmed there, including the role of Jessica. She played the strong, no-nonsense lawyer from 1987-95 and again from 1999 to 2007, while working steadily in prime-time, theater and film. She is also an accomplished singer. She and her second husband, Generet, a jazz vocalist/post-production videotape editor, live in Harlem.
Et Cetera
— Nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for The Caveman's Valentine
— Played Maggie the Cat in the first all-African-American production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
— Is on the board of directors for Figure Skating in Harlem, a nonprofit arts and education organization that supports girls 6-16 in after-school programs.
Career Highlights
TV Roles
NEFERTITI: RESURRECTED (Narrator, 2003)
24 (Alberta, 2001-02)
LAW & ORDER: SVU (Medical Examiner Warner, 2000-present)
SEX AND THE CITY (guest star, 1999)
NEW YORK UNDERCOVER (guest star, 1998, 1995)
CHICAGO HOPE (guest star, 1997)
FEDS (guest star, 1997)
PRINCE STREET (guest star, 1997)
REBOUND: THE LEGEND OF EARL "THE GOAT" MANIGAULT (Miss Marcus, 1996)
LAW & ORDER (guest star, 1996)
SWIFT JUSTICE (guest star, 1996)
SEAQUEST DSV (guest star, 1995)
NYPD BLUE (Lillian, 1994-97)
SPENSER: FOR HIRE (guest star, 1986)
Film Roles
The Caveman's Valentine (Sheila, 2001)
Snake Eyes (Anthea, 1998)
The Devil's Advocate (Jackie, 1997)
The Peacemaker (Jody, 1997)
Eve's Bayou (Narrator, 1997)
Quentin Carr (Detective, 1996)
Rescuing Desire (Van, 1996)
Spirit Lost (Anne, 1996)
The Money Shot (1996)
City Hall (Leslie, 1996)
Rising Son (Lauren, 1993)
Bloodhounds of Broadway (Cynthia, 1989)
Wall Street (Carolyn, 1987)
Sweet Lorraine (Julie, 1987)
Memorable Quotes
"She seems a little one-dimensional to me at times because she is just so wise." — on Jessica, Soap Opera Digest, 5/29/90
"I find it sad that [an interracial relationship] is still an issue that has to be addressed, like teenage alcoholism or the incest storyline.... Wouldn't it be ideal to just deal with two people who love each other? When Duncan was involved with Shannon, it was never an issue that he was from Scotland and she was from South Philly." — Soap Opera Weekly, 10/15/91
"I love to go to L.A. to work, and I have many friends out there, but it doesn't feed me like New York. I've been here 20 years this month, and I still walk down the street and get a rush. Just standing on the block, I have the international community around me, and I love that. You don't get that anywhere else. It is the greatest city in the world." — Digest, 11/20/01
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