Who is Valarie Pettiford?
Valarie Pettiford was born on July 8, 1960 in Queens, New York, United States. She is an actress, singer, and dancer, perhaps best known for her role in the Broadway production of “Fosse” in which she earned a Tony Award nomination. She also worked on the sitcom “Half & Half”, in which she played Big Dee Dee Thorne.
Valarie Pettiford’s Wealth
At the end of 2019, the net worth was around $1.5 million. She has been active in the entertainment industry since 1978 and has appeared on many popular television shows.
VALARIE PETTIFORD
posted by Maxx Jerome to Saturday, May 7, 2011
Youth and early career
There are very few details that have been revealed regarding Valarie’s life prior to her foray into acting. She didn’t mention anything about her family, her upbringing, and her academic performance. We know that she started her career on Broadway as a dancer and choreographer in productions by Bob Fosse. While she mainly had a background role, several publications took notice of her including “The New York Times”, thanks to her contribution to the musical “Ladies and Gentlemen, Jerome Kern!”
Eventually, she began to earn more roles in front of the camera and landed her first film role as an ensemble member in “The Wiz.” The musical film is a reimagining of the children’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” featuring an all-black cast while also being a loose adaptation of the 1974 Broadway musical of the same name. The film starred Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, however, it was a commercial failure, but would still become a cult classic among Jackson fans and black audiences.
Access to notoriety
Pettiford began to get more attention over the years, and she received accolades for her stage performance in the musical “West Side Story”. The production is inspired by Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, but this time is set on New York’s Upper West Side in the 1950s. She continued to work on stage and played black lesbian Cassandra Keefer in “The Naked Truth” in 1994. She also starred in the touring production of “Show Boat” a year later, a two-act musical based on Edna Ferber’s novel The Same Name.
During this time, she also began to take on more TV projects, mostly appearing in soap operas. She appeared on ‘Another World’ and then originated the role of Sheila Price on ‘One Life to Live’ – the soap opera aired on ABC for over 43 years and was noted for being the first soap opera to feature diverse characters in terms of ethnicity. as well as socio-economic status – the show follows members of the Lord family and their relationships. In 1998, she received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in “Ditch”, a role for which she was also nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award.
Last career
Valarie then left “Fosse” to appear in a West End production of “Chicago”, alongside Chita Rivera. The musical is based on the 1926 play of the same name, following the story of Maurine Dallas Watkins and the crimes she reported. She then made her cabaret debut in 2007, which earned her a Backstage Bistro Award. Subsequently, she had a leading role in “The Wild Party” for which she won an NAACP Theater Award. The musical is based on the poem of the same name written by Joseph Moncure March.
While performing in a few solo theatrical shows, she also starred in the movie “Glitter”, playing Mariah Carey’s mother. She also had a role in the movie “Stomp the Yard” and played the character of Sandra Lucas in the comedy show “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne.” She then worked on the pilot for “Anatomy of Hope”, and was part of “Jumping the Boom” in 2011 playing Aunt Geneva. One of his latest projects is a lead role in the show “A discovery of witches”. The British television show is based on the “All Souls” trilogy of books written by Deborah Harkness.
Personal life and social media
Pettiford is married to Tony Rader, though details of their relationship and marriage are mostly kept from the public eye. He is known to be its manager and was previously a professional baseball player who pitched for the Major League Baseball (MLB) team, the Philadelphia Phillies. She doesn’t like to talk about her life outside of acting, and it’s unclear if she has any children from her marriage. Despite all her achievements, especially on stage, she prefers not to draw too much attention to herself. She also loves music, especially the jazz genre, having released an album herself.
