Sheila Frazier

Sheila Elaine Frazier was born in New York City, New York to Dorothy Dennis and Eugene Cole Frazier. She lived on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and attended P.S 97 until age 10, when she moved with her mother to Englewood, New Jersey. There, she enrolled in the Liberty School. As a young girl, Frazier was a stutterer, which contributed to her shyness. When she was in sixth grade, a teacher purported to help her overcome stuttering by announcing to the class before Sheila's presentation: “I don’t want any laughter. Sheila’s a stutterer. I don’t want any laughter.” Frazier has said that introduction was so painful it merely intensified her anxiety about speaking in public.[2]

In Englewood, she counted among her neighbors Clyde McPhatter, Van McCoy, The Isley Brothers, and Dolly and Jackie McLean. She went on to Dwight Morrow High School, where her classmates included Margaret Travolta, actress and sister of John Travolta. Despite Frazier's struggle with stuttering, she was inspired by Susan Hayward's performance in the film I'll Cry Tomorrow to pursue a career as an actress. After graduating from high school in 1966,[3] at age 17, she moved to New York City, where she stayed with her godmother and found work as a secretary.[4]

One day on the subway, a man approached Frazier and asked if she'd ever considered modeling. That chance encounter led her to do photo sessions with his boss, Bert Andrews. She also began to do runway modeling and print work, but was not comfortable with that sort of attention trained on her. At some point, she met actor Richard Roundtree, who suggested she audition for the Negro Ensemble Company. Following his advice about focusing on the part she was acting, Frazier was amazed to find she had overcome her stuttering. Five months later, she auditioned for the film Super Fly, winning the role of Georgia, the lead actress. She went on to work in many film and television productions, including Three the Hard Way. In 1980, she hosted a community affairs show on KNXT-TV in Los Angeles. She also worked as a story editor at Richard Pryor's Indigo Productions.

Frazier has been married twice and has one child.[1] Frazier married evangelist minister John Atchison in early–2008 at Crenshaw Christian Center East in Manhattan, New York.[1] Frazier's son, Derek McKeith is from her previous marriage to Sam McKeith. Frazier currently resides in Los Angeles.

• Sheila Frazier at IMDb