The 2006 Genii Awards 50th Anniversary Gala

Photo Credit: Nancy Jo Gilchrist
Excellence in Television Genii
CCH Pounder
Actor and Activist
THE SHIELD
http://www.cchpounder.com
http://www.ansaafrica.org

Strong, spirited and committed are just a few of the characteristics that exemplify acclaimed actress, CCH POUNDER, which is evident in the diversity of her roles and her worldwide fight against apartheid.

Currently in the critically acclaimed FX series, THE SHIELD, CCH was nominated for an Emmy Award for “Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series” for her role as “Detective Claudette Wyms.” CCH has also received NAACP Image Award nominations for “Best Actress in a Drama Series,” the MIB Prism Award for “Outstanding Actress in a Television Drama” and two Golden Satellite Awards for “Performance by an Actress in a Series, Drama.” Other accolades for CCH include an Emmy nomination for “Best Supporting Actress” for her role as Dr. Angela Hicks on the NBC series ER, and an Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series” for her role in FOX’s THE X-FILES. In addition, she received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Spoken Word Album for GROW OLD ALONG WITH ME, THE BEST IS YET TO COME and won an AUDI, the Audio Publishers Association’s top honor, for WOMEN IN THE MATERIAL WORLD. Also, CCH released her first solo album, SMOKE, which combined poetry and music.

“I’m an international small town girl,” CCH proclaims, as she details her life, which began in Guyana, South America. CCH was raised on a sugar cane estate and each day she took a taxi, then a boat and finally a school bus to receive her education. “I clearly remember my first introduction to the theater,” states CCH, “It was a Kabubi rendition of THE TEA HOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON and I was mesmerized.” When CCH’s parents moved to the United States, they sent their two girls to a convent boarding school in Sussex, England. In England, CCH was introduced to poetry, painting and drama, most especially the classics. Holidays were spent with guardian families in England and France and CCH, through the diverse ethnic friendship she formed in school, was introduced to a multiple of cultures.

After graduating from high school, CCH entered Hastings College of Arts in Sussex but soon left and moved permanently to the U.S. to be with her family, which by now had settled in Brooklyn, New York. Eventually, CCH attended Ithaca College in upstate New York where her talents caught the attention of Professor Earl McCarroll, from the drama department. Upon graduation, it was McCarroll who urged CCH to join a regional theater company and she moved to Monmouth, Maine and the Shakespeare Theater. “Regional Theater gave me a chance to do the classics and the experimental new plays. It also gave me a chance to grow as an actress. CCH has starred as HEDDA GABLER at the prestigious Old Globe Theater and in THE OLD SETTLER at the Pasadena Playhouse, which earned her an Ovation nomination for “Best Actress” and a Fred Award (“Best Actress in a Theatrical Season”).

Eventually, it was off to Louisville, Kentucky, New York City and the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, where CCH worked with such actors as Denzel Washington, Bill Cobb and Morgan Freeman. During a seven-year tenure in theater, CCH appeared in such Broadway and off-Broadway plays as OPEN ADMISSIONS at the Music Box, THE MIGHTY GENTS at the New York Shakespeare Festival and MUMBO JUMBO at the Lincoln Center. During her time in New York, CCH was cast in her first motion picture, Bob Fosse’s ALL THAT JAZZ and it was Fosse, who first helped the actress acclimate to the movie camera.

While at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, CCH experienced her last below freezing winter and when a friend asked CCH to visit her in Los Angeles, she boarded a plane and never looked back. While in Los Angeles, CCH was offered a tour of MOTHER COURAGE in Japan but an inner voice held her back. The day the theater group boarded their plane for Japan, CCH received a call that she was cast in Jack Hoffsis’ film, I’M DANCING AS FAST AS I CAN. That role paved the way for CCH’s landmark role in Percy Adlon’s BAGDAD CAFÉ. When the film, which has since become a favorite on many top ten film lists, opened in Paris, CCH was there and within minutes of her arrival at the premiere, her car was surrounded by thirty fans. It was apparent that from that moment, CCH’s decision to become an actress would finally please her parents, who had hoped she would become a broadcast journalist.

Appearances in HILL STREET BLUES and CAGNEY & LACEY forged CCH’s entrée into television which followed with recurring roles on L.A. LAW, WOMAN IN PRISON, SWEET JUSTICE and MILLENIUM and guest-starring roles on THE OUTER LIMITS, THE WEST WING THE PRACTICE and Law & Order:SVU among others. Numerous television films and miniseries followed including GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN (with Paul Winfield and Ossie Davis), Hallmark Hall of Fame’s RESTING PLACE, HBO’s THIRD DEGREE BURN, CBS’s THE ATLANTA CHILD MURDERS and NBC’s MURDER IN MISSISSIPPI, the CBS miniseries, IF TOMORROW COMES, ALL SHE EVER WANTED, FINAL JUSTICE, LITTLE GIRL FLY AWAY, BUMP IN THE NIGHT, Francis Ford Coppola’s WHITE DWARF, FUNNY VALENTINES (for which she received her third Tree of Life Award from the Black Emmys), Tom Clancy’s NET FORCE, HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, ZOO MAN, HBO’S landmark special, IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK, A TOUCH OF HOPE, THE ERNEST GREEN STORY, FOR THEIR OWN GOOD, LIFE POD, CORA UNASHAMED and the critically acclaimed BOYCOTT, DISAPPEARING ACTS and UNCHAINED MEMORIES: READING FROM THE SLAVE NARRATIVES ON HBO. She also narrated RACE - THE POWER OF AN ILLUSION on PBS and portrayed “ Winnie Mandela” in the FX original movie “ REDEMPTION,” for which she received the “Best Supporting Actress TV,” from the 2005 FAAAF/Black Reel Awards.

The film roles have also continued for CCH, including PRIZZI’S HONOR, POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, BENNY AND JOON, ROBOCOP 3, SLIVER, TALES FROM THE CRYPT: DEMON KNIGHT, MELTING POT, FACE/OFF with John Travolta & Nicolas Cage and END OF DAYS with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Alison Anders’ THINGS BEHIND THE SUN.

A few years ago, CCH became involved with the organization, ARTISTS FOR A NEW SOUTH AFRICA, with its goal to end apartheid. The group, headquartered in Los Angeles, now has 1,200 supporters nationwide. CCH and her husband, anthropologist Boubacar Kone, were married in an African ceremony in Dakar, Senegal West Africa and were again remarried at a traditional Los Angeles event six months later. They have built The Boribana Museum (www.boribanamuseum.org) in Dakar, Senegal for the study of cultures of the African Diaspora and recently opened The Pounder-Kone Art Space in Los Angeles. In October of 1997, CCH was honored by the Institute of Caribbean Studies with their award for Excellence in the Arts.

CCH has returned to Ithaca College on a fellowship and she has also returned to her love of artwork. In addition to painting and gardening, CCH creates one-of-a-kind jewelry, featuring African beads and European crystal and glass, has gained a following among Hollywood celebrities and is sold throughout the country. “It’s like the theater,” says CCH, “When you see someone on the street wearing a necklace you designed – it’s immediate gratification and the applause comes from the inside.” What began as a cottage garage business is now prospering but that doesn’t surprise anyone who knows CCH. Just like on that winter walk in Milwaukee when she decided to board the next plane for Los Angeles, “There is nothing impossible that someone, who believes enough in themselves, cannot conquer” says CCH. “And my journey has just begun!”

About the Genii Awards

AWRT
American Women in Radio and Television is a national, nonprofit organization
that extends membership to qualified professionals in the electronic media and
allied fields. AWRT's mission is to advance the impact of women in the electronic
media and allied fields by educating, advocating and acting as a resource to its
members and the industry. Founded in 1951, AWRT has worked to improve the quality of broadcast programming and the image of women as depicted in radio and television.

AWRT SoCal’s Genii’s
For 49 years, AWRT’s Southern California chapter has presented the highest honor
AWRT SoCal bestows in the name of Chapter Founder, Jeanne Gray McDonald.
This special honor celebrates the notable achievements of excellence executed by individuals in radio and television broadcasting. The recipients of this prestigious honor are being saluted for their significant contributions to the industry aligned with the mission of the organization to promote progress and create change within the electronic media.

Genii honorees are recognized for their pioneering efforts, dedicated leadership, commitment to quality and excellence, and their community contributions.

Benefactor
Your participation assists AWRT SoCal to provide honors beyond the Genii salute.
Your support benefits tomorrow's leaders. Proceeds from the Genii’s support AWRT SoCal’s College Scholarship Fund and professional educational programs. Your alliance with AWRT SoCal makes it possible to continue the tradition of educational programming and mentorship.

View the complete list of past Genii recipients.
and 2004 Radio Genii Photos