CCH Pounder Bio - CCH Pounder Biography

CCH Pounder: Biography

CCH Pounder (the CCH standing for Carol Christine Hilaria, her birth name) is synonymous with strength, confidence and integrity. As can be said of other similarly styled actresses such as Alfre Woodard and Cicely Tyson, most of CCH's characters are enriched with these same positive attributes and it is a testament to this actress' abilities that she continues on such a high plane in a nearly three-decade career.

Born on Christmas Day 1952 in Guyana, she was raised on a sugar-cane plantation. Her parents moved to the US 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 western cs. Following high school graduation, she arrived in New York and studied at Ithaca College, where her acting talents were discovered. Regional and Western cal 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 "Out of Rosenheim" (1987) as the offbeat owner of a roadside caf�, but CCH'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 performed in a number of acclaimed topical dramas, including Go Tell It On the Mountain (1985) (TV), Common Ground (1990) (TV), Murder in Mississippi (1990) (TV), Funny Valentines (1999) (TV) and Boycott (2001) (TV), for which a number of kudos have come her way.

In 1997 CCH and her husband founded The Musee Borindar in Senegal, just outside of Dakar.(edit)
CCH is one of the founders of ANSA (Artists for a New South Africa).(edit)
CCH enjoys painting, gardening and creating one-of-a-kind jewelry, which she sells on her website.(edit)
CCH attended Hastings College of Arts in Sussex and later Ithaca College in upstate New York.(edit)
In 2004 & 2005 CCH won a Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Drama for The Shield.(edit)
CCH has released a CD called smoke; it is a blend of pop, soul and spoken word.(edit)
CCH and her husband operate Pounder-Kon� Artspace in Los Angeles, CA. It is an art salon for visual artists, writers, and musicians.(edit)
In 1998 CCH was in Theatre League of Southern California's production of The Old Settler.(edit)
In 2007 CCH was nominated for a NAMIC (National Association for Multi-Ethnicity In Communication) Vision award for Best Actress � Drama for The Shield.(edit)
CCH has one sister, Shelley Pounder. Her parents are Ronald and Betsy Pounder. (edit)
In 2002 CCH was nominated for a Black Reel Award Network/Cable - Best Supporting Actress for Boycott. In 2005 she won for Best Supporting Actress, Network/Cable Television for Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story.(edit)
The role of Detective Wyms, on The Shield was originally written to be male, series creator Shawn Ryan changed the character after a call from CCH Pounder's agent. One thing they didn't change was the dialog, at her request, to keep the character holding her own against her male counterparts. (edit)
CCH was considered for the role of C.J. Cregg on The West Wing, however the part was given to Allison Janey.(edit)
CCH was named after 3 female relatives; Carol, Christine, and Hilaria.(edit)
CCH has been nominated for the following Image Awards:
Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for The Shield in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for ER in 1996 and 1998.
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2002.
Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series for Zooman in 1996.(edit)
CCH married Boubacar Kone, a Senegalese-born anthropologist, in 1991. (edit)
CCH is 5' 6 1/2" (1.69m tall).(edit)
CCH starred in a pilot for the proposed sci-fi series "White Dwarf" with Paul Winfield in 1995, but the show was never picked up.(edit)
CCH played Dr. Shauna Kendall in the 1997 version of House of Frankenstein, produced as a television mini-series. She had not yet been born when the original House of Frankenstein film was released in 1944.(edit)
CCH provides the voice of Chief on the video game "True Crimes: Streets of L.A" and to Vree on the video game "Fallout: A Post-Nuclear Role-Playing Game".(edit)
CCH has received three Emmy Award nominations over her career: in 1995 she was nominated in the catetgory of Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Agent Lucy Kazdin in an episode of The X-Files, in 1997 she was nominated in the catetgory of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Dr. Angela Hicks on ER, and in 2005 she was nominated in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Detective Claudette Wyms on The Shield.(edit)

CCH Pounder: When it's this massive disease, and it's affecting things in five thousand different ways, it requires great strength and power--and there is power in numbers. So we need to involve as many people as we can, like we do with ANSA. I call it my little engine that could. It is a remarkable, tiny organization with a huge outreach. We use actors and artists with the biggest voices so they can use every opportunity to talk about AIDS.(edit)
CCH Pounder: Characters are like putting on a coat. You put the coat on while you work, you take the coat off after it's over.(edit)
CCH Pounder: With acting, I started very young, and I'd performed for a lot of children in boarding schools, late at night after the dormitory lights were out. I'd have a flashlight, and I'd be Count Dracula, or Shakespeare, or Yogi Bear, and leap from bunk to bunk. I loved the laughter; I liked the way it made people feel.(edit)
CCH Pounder: Applause is the most powerful thing... people talk about the sound of it, but what I hear is glee.(edit)