Shirley Jo Finney
Finney (left) with Jason Bernard in 1977
Born	(1949-07-14)July 14, 1949 Merced, California, U.S.
Died	October 10, 2023(2023-10-10) (aged 74) Bellingham, Washington, U.S.
Education	Sacramento State College ( BFA) University of California, Los Angeles ( MFA)
Occupations	Actress director
Years active	1973–2023

Shirley Jo Finney (July 14, 1949 – October 10, 2023) was an American actress and theater director. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Finney was born in Merced, California, in 1949, and grew up primarily in Sacramento, California. ^[4] She graduated from Sacramento State College with a degree in theater in 1971, where she met and befriended Wilma Rudolph. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1973 with a master's degree in theater arts, and thereafter began an acting career. ^[4] She portrayed Wilma Rudolph in the 1977 television film Wilma. ^{[3] [4]} Finney continued to act into the 1990s. ^[4] She attended the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women. ^[2]

As a director, Finney worked with The Fountain Theatre for many years, where she directed eight productions. ^[1] She also directed plays at the Mark Taper Forum, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Humana Festival. ^[2] Her work earned her recognition from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, the Ovation Awards and the NAACP. ^[2] In 2008, she was attached to direct a Broadway revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, but the production was scrapped due to a lack of funding. ^[4] Finney directed plays across the United States, and her last credit was a 2023 production of Clyde's at The Ensemble Theatre in Houston. ^{[1] [2]}

Finney died from multiple myeloma at a hospital in Bellingham, Washington, on October 10, 2023, at the age of 74. ^{[2] [4]}

Filmography

• Temperatures Rising (1973)
• Police Woman (1974)
• Police Story (1974)
• Nashville Girl (1976)
• The River Niger (1976)
• The Blue Knight (1976)
• Wilma [ fr] (1977)
• Mork & Mindy (1979)
• Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (1980)
• Lou Grant (1980)
• Hey Good Lookin' (1982)
• Echo Park (1986)
• Hill Street Blues (1986)
• Amen (1987)
• Uncle Tom's Cabin (1987)
• Nuts (1987)
• Moving (1988)
• Night Court (1989)
• CBS Schoolbreak Special (1990)
• Where I Live (1993)

References

External links

• Shirley Jo Finney at IMDb

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