She’s appeared in the TV series ‘ER,’ FX’s ,Sons of Anarchy,’ ‘Warehouse 13,’ and ‘Brothers,; and been thanked by top actor Jamie Foxx in his Oscar acceptance speech when he won Best Actor in a leading role for ‘Ray.’ Now Guyana-born actress activist and artist, CCH Pounder, is back on TV screens in the new CBS primetime drama, ‘NCIS: New Orleans.’
Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder is coroner Dr. Loretta Wade, an eccentric intellectual, on the new series which will officially get underway on Tuesday, September 23 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
“NCIS: New Orleans” is a drama about the local field office that investigates criminal cases affecting military personnel in New Orleans, a city rich in culture and known for its music, entertainment and decadence.
Leading the team of investigators is Special Agent Dwayne Pride (played by Scott Bakula), a native of the Big Easy driven by the need to do the right thing. Pride presides over the assorted members of his investigative team, including Special Agent Christopher LaSalle, a hard-working party boy, Special Agent Meredith Brody, a charming but tough interrogator, and Dr. Wade.
Pounder was born on Christmas Day 1952 in then British Guiana, and named after female relatives, Carol, Christine, and Hilaria. She was raised on a sugar cane plantation. Her parents moved to the United States while she was still a young girl, but she and her sister were sent to a convent boarding school in Britain where they were introduced to art and the classics.
Following high school graduation, she arrived in New York and studied at Ithaca College, where her acting talents were discovered. Regional and classical repertory theater followed, earning roles in such productions as “The Mighty Gents” with Morgan Freeman at the New York Shakespeare Festival and “Open Admissions,” her Broadway debut. Her preference for a warmer climate led to her move to Hollywood in the late 1970s.
After bit roles in ‘All That Jazz’ (1979) and ‘I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can’ (1982), she found cult status in the art-house film ‘Bagdad Café’ (1987) as the offbeat owner of a roadside café, but Pounder’s prominence came with television.
Usually cast as a confident, strong-minded professional, she is known for her understated intensity and earned an Emmy nomination for her stint on the hospital drama ‘ER’ (1994).
She has also performed in a number of highly acclaimed topical dramas, including American Playhouse: ‘Go Tell It on the Mountain’ (1985), ‘Common Ground’ (1990), ‘Murder in Mississippi’ (1990), ‘Funny Valentines’ (1999) and ‘Boycott’ (2001), for which a number of kudos have come her way.
Now she’s back in another top TV drama, this time as the Jefferson Parish, New Orleans, Medical Examiner, who is as eccentric as she is smart. The character is described as worldly, intuitive and incredibly connected to Louisiana.
Pounder lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband Boubacar Kone. She has three children – two daughters and a son and six grandchildren.
