Adina Porter Biography

Adina Elizabeth Porter (born March 13, 1971) is an American actress. She began her career appearing on Off-Broadway stage, winning Obie Award in 1996 for Venus.

Porter is best known for her performances on television. From 2008 to 2014, she starred as Lettie Mae Thornton in the HBO drama series True Blood. From 2012 to 2014, Porter also co-starred as Kendra James in the HBO drama The Newsroom. In 2014, she began appearing in a recurring role as Indra in the CW post-apocalyptic drama, The 100, and in 2016 was cast as Lee Harris in the FX anthology series American Horror Story: Roanoke.

Life and career

Porter was born and raised in New York City, New York. She graduated from the State University of New York at Purchase. Her first acting teacher was Butterfly McQueen. She was married two times and has a son with her second husband, Larry Earl Madison Jr.

Theater

Porter began her acting career in the theatre, appearing in off Broadway plays and in regional theatre. Her off-Broadway credits include The Debutante Ball, Jersey City, Aven' U Boys, Girl Gone, Silence, Cunning, Exile, Dancing on Moonlight and Hurricane. In 1996, she received Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress for her performance in Venus. Her Broadway debut came in 2001 with the Roundabout Theater's revival of The Women, directed by Scott Elliott, broadcast as part of PBS's Stage on Screen series, in addition, she performed in multiple productions at the New York Shakespeare Festival.

Television and film

Porter began her screen career playing guest starring roles on television dramas include Law & Order, New York Undercover, Brooklyn South, and NYPD Blue. She had a recurring role as housekeeper Gwen Walker in the NBC period drama American Dreams from 2002 to 2003. In film, she made her debut in 1992 Leopold/Loeb New Queer Cinema feature, Swoon. She went to appear in small roles in films The Peacemaker (1997), Gia (1998), Body Shots (1999), The Fluffer (2001), and The Salon (2005). In 2005, Porter played Ricky in the film adaptation of Ruben Santiago-Hudson's play Lackawanna Blues for HBO. She received Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress: Television Movie/Cable for her role. She went to appear ER, Prison Break, Without a Trace, House, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

In 2008, Porter was cast as Lettie Mae Thornton, mother to Rutina Wesley's Tara Thorton, in the HBO drama series, True Blood. She was promoted to series regular in seventh and final season of show. In 2012, she guest starred in an episode of Grey's Anatomy. From 2012 to 2014, she also had a recurring role on the HBO series The Newsroom playing Kendra James. In 2014, she began appearing in a recurring role as Indra in the CW post-apocalyptic drama, The 100. Porter also starred in two unsold drama pilots for ABC, Doubt in 2013, and The Jury in 2016. In 2016, she played Pearly Mae during first season of WGN America period drama Underground. Later that year, Porter was cast as Lee Harris in the FX anthology series American Horror Story: Roanoke, after previously appearing as a minor character in American Horror Story: Murder House in 2011. For her performance in Roanoke, she received positive reviews from critics and was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Swoon	Stenographer
1993	Geoffrey Beene 30	Woman	Short film
1997	The Peacemaker	Police NYPD
1998	Gia	Girl at Group Therapy
1999	Body Shots	Detective Thompson
2001	The Fluffer	Silver
2002	Pipe Dream	Lauren Gunther
2005	The Salon	Percy's wife
2005	Lackawanna Blues	Ricky	Television movie
2009	Operating Instructions	Celia	Television movie
2010	The Social Network	Gretchen's Associate	Uncredited
2011	About Sunny	Cheryl
2011	The Changing Room	Sarah	Short film
2017	The Last Word	Bree Wilson	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Law & Order	Woman Neighbor	Episode: "Out of the Half-Light"
1994	Law & Order	Sheryl Decker	Episode: "Nurture"
1994	New York Undercover	Jasmine Hopkins	Episode: "Pilot"
1995	Law & Order	Mary Byman	Episode: "Savages"
1997	Brooklyn South	Angela Withers	Episode: "Life Under Castro"
1998	Brimstone	Rachel	Episode: "Repentance"
1999	Snoops	Angela Jackson	Episode: "The Grinch"
2000	The District	Ella's Assistant	Episode: "Pilot"
2000	Judging Amy		Episode: "Unnecessary Roughness"
2000	Any Day Now	Diane	Episode: "Where's the Justice in That?"
2000	City of Angels	Hazina	Episode: "Smoochas Gracias"
2001	NYPD Blue	Tisha	Episode: "Dying to Testify"
2002	Strong Medicine	Malia	Episode: "Compassionate Release"
2002	The Guardian	Assistant D. A.	Episode: "Monster"
2002	Crossing Jordan	Vicki Moran	Episode: "Prisoner Exchange"
2002-03	American Dreams	Gwen Walker	15 episodes
2003	NYPD Blue	Ifeoma Okafor	Episode: "Meet the Grandparents"
2005	ER	Mrs. Hopkins	Episode: "Back in the World"
2005	Jack & Bobby		Episode: "A Child of God"
2005	CSI: NY	Shannon Goodall	Episode: "On the Job"
2005	Prison Break	Leticia Barris	2 episodes
2006	Without a Trace	Harriet Lewis	Episode: "Watch Over Me"
2007	House M.D.	Claudia	Episode: "Family"
2007	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Janelle Odami	Episode: "Fight"
2007-10	Saving Grace	Tamara Cooley	2 episodes
2008-14	True Blood	Lettie Mae Thornton	30 episodes
2009	Cold Case	Laticia Myers	Episode: "Jurisprudence"
2009	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Denise Devine	Episode: "Coup de Grace"
2010	Hawthorne	Nancy Breton	Episode: "The Match"
2010	The Whole Truth	Detective Sweeney	Episode: "Cold Case"
2011	Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior	Jeanette Rawlins	Episode: "Two of a Kind"
2011	Private Practice	Stacy	Episode: "A Step Too Far"
2011	American Horror Story: Murder House	Sally Freeman	Episode: "Murder House"
2011	Prime Suspect	Detective Kendra Cannon	Episode: "The Great Wall of Silence"
2011-12	Ringer	Principal Caruso	2 episodes
2012	The Finder	Ms. Estelle	Episode: "Life After Death"
2012	Grey's Anatomy	Dr. Ramsey	Episode: "Remember the Time"
2012	Glee	History Teacher	Episode: "The Role You Were Born to Play"
2012	The Vampire Diaries	Nandi	Episode: "We'll Always Have Bourbon Street"
2012-14	The Newsroom	Kendra James	23 episodes
2014-present	The 100	Indra	29 episodes
2015	Code Black	Susie	Episode: "Pilot"
2015	The Leftovers	G.R. Leader	Episode: "Ten Thirteen"
2016-17	Underground	Pearly Mae	7 episodes
2016	The Catch	FBI Agent Emily Clark	Episode: "The Wedding"
2016	American Horror Story: Roanoke	Lee Harris	10 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
2006	Black Reel Awards	Best Supporting Actress: Television Movie/Cable	Lackawanna Blues
2017	Saturn Awards	Best Supporting Actress on Television	American Horror Story: Roanoke