Starletta DuPois

DuPois was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She graduated from University of Maryland Eastern Shore in 1968, and received M.F.A. in Theatre Arts from UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. She made her Broadway debut appearing in 1974 short-lived play What the Wine-Sellers Buy. Later that year she had minor roles in films Death Wish and The Gambler. In 1976 she starred in the Off-Broadway production of So Nice, They Named it Twice.

In 1978, DuPois received Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in the original production of The Mighty Gents opposite Dorian Harewood. She later played Ruth Younger in the Union Square Theatre's A Raisin in the Sun, and appeared in Longacre Theatre's musical Don't Get God Started. At the same time, DuPois began appearing on television, playing guest-starring roles on The Jeffersons, Little House on the Prairie, Knots Landing, Hill Street Blues, CHiPs and St. Elsewhere. In 1989, she received NAACP Image Award for American Playhouse production of A Raisin in the Sun. She later returned to play, but in role of Lena Younger, in the Royal Exchange Theatre 2010 production receiving positive review from The Guardian. Her other theatre credits including Intimate Apparel, Before It Hits Home, King Hedley II, Miss Evers Boys, Fences, The Piano Lesson and Joe Turner's Come and Gone.

During her career, DuPois played supporting roles in a more that 50 movies. She appeared in Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), Odd Jobs (1986), Hollywood Shuffle (1987), Ricochet (1991), The Waterdance (1992), South Central (1992), The Thing Called Love (1993), and Wolf (1994). She starred opposite James Earl Jones in the 1991 Western film Convicts and played Whitney Houston' character mother in the 1995 comedy-drama film, Waiting to Exhale. She later appeared in films 3 Strikes (2000), Big Momma's House (2000), Friday After Next (2002), The Notebook (2004), First Sunday (2008), True to the Game trilogy (2017–2021), and Charming the Hearts of Men (2021).

On television, DuPois appeared in a made-for-television movies, include The Kid with the 200 I.Q. (1983), Wes Craven's Chiller (1985), Runaway Father (1991), Strapped (1993), The Road to Galveston (1996), Full Circle (1996) and Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland (2017). From 2017 to 2021 she starred in the streaming television comedy series, The Rich and the Ruthless opposite Victoria Rowell. Her other television credits including guest appearances on The Steve Harvey Show, Chicago Hope, The District, Lost, Cold Case and Black Jesus.