Actress Anna Maria Horsford Is a Member of Sigma Gamma Rho

Did you know that veteran actress Anna Maria Horsford is a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.? For more than four decades, she has been a familiar face in Black film and television.

Anna Maria Horsford was born in New York City to parents who had immigrated from Antigua and the Dominican Republic. As TV Guide documents, she studied at Manhattan’s High School of Performing Arts, where she sharpened her craft and became a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. The sorority was founded in 1922 at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, by seven Black educators, and it holds the distinction of being the only Divine Nine sorority founded at a predominantly white institution.

Horsford got her start in New York and made her television debut on the groundbreaking PBS program Soul!. She went on to build one of the steadiest careers in the business, becoming a beloved presence on screens across the country.

Her breakout role came in 1986, when she was cast as Thelma Frye on the NBC sitcom Amen, the daughter determined to marry Deacon Frye’s assistant pastor. The show ran for five seasons and made her a household name. She followed it with another unforgettable role, playing Betty Jones, the mother of Ice Cube’s character Craig, in the 1995 comedy classic Friday and its sequel Friday After Next.

Over the years, Horsford has appeared in more than 30 films and dozens of television series. She played Dee Baxter on The Wayans Bros., took on dramatic roles on FX’s The Shield, and earned two Daytime Emmy Award nominations for her work as Vivienne Avant on The Bold and the Beautiful. Her film credits include Set It Off, Along Came a Spider and A Madea Christmas, and she has continued to work steadily with recurring roles on series including Grey’s Anatomy and The Last O.G.

From the stage at the High School of Performing Arts to a career that has spanned generations of Black film and television, Soror Anna Maria Horsford has remained one of the culture’s most dependable and recognizable talents.

We at Watch The Yard would like to commend Soror Anna Maria Horsford for her lasting contributions to film and television.