Alfre Woodard is an American actress, producer, and political activist born on November 8, 1952, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She is the youngest of three children of Constance, a homemaker, and Marion H. Woodard, an interior designer.

Alfre Woodard attended Bishop Kelley High School, a private Catholic school in Tulsa, and later studied drama at Boston University. She began her acting career in theater, making her professional debut in 1974 on Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage. Her breakthrough role came in the Off-Broadway play "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf" in 1977.

Her career in film and television has been illustrious, with notable roles in movies such as "Cross Creek" (1983), "Passion Fish" (1992), "Crooklyn" (1994), "12 Years a Slave" (2013), and "The Lion King" (2019), where she voiced Sarabi.

On television, she gained prominence for her role as Dr. Roxanne Turner in the NBC medical drama "St. Elsewhere" and later starred in "Desperate Housewives" and the Marvel series "Luke Cage".

Throughout her career, Alfre Woodard has received numerous accolades, including four Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. She has also been nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Grammy Awards. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her as one of "The 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century".

She co-founded "Artists for a New South Africa," an organization devoted to advancing democracy and equality in South Africa. She is also a board member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Alfre Woodard lives in Santa Monica, California, with her husband, writer Roderick M. Spencer, and their two adopted children, Mavis and Duncan.