Hattie Mae Winston (b. March 3 1945, Lexington, Mississippi) is an American television, film and Broadway actress best known for her role as Margaret on Becker. She was featured in television series such as Nurse and Homefront. Raised in Greenville, Mississippi, she began her career onstage. Winston starred in the Broadway hit The Tap Dance Kid; she also appeared on Broadway in Two Gentlemen of Verona, I Love My Wife, and The Me Nobody Knows. She was a member of the Negro Ensemble Company.
Winston rose to prominence during the mid-1970s as a member of the cast of the children's PBS series The Electric Company, which was produced by the Children's Television Workshop. Her most notable character on that series was Valerie the Librarian, who was best friends with Easy Reader (portrayed by Morgan Freeman). She also played many villainess roles versus Spider-Man on the Spidey Super Stories sketches, such as the Fox, the Thumper, the Queen Bee, and the Queen of Diamonds. Winston was with the show from 1973 to 1977. In 1998, she voiced Lucy Carmichael for The Rugrats Movie. Since then she has gone on to voice the character again for Nickelodeon TV series, All Grown Up. Which was a spin-off from the original Rugrats series.
She has guest-starred on Scrubs and Smart Guy. In 1997, Winston portrayed Simone in the Quentin Tarantino film Jackie Brown.
The National Black Theater Festival in North Carolina has twice declared a a Hattie Winston Day: once in 1993 and again in 1997.
She has appeared on Broadway in "The Tap Dance Kid," "Two Gentelmen of Verona," and "The Me Nobody Knows."
Served as national co-chair of AFTRA's Equal Employment Opportunities Committee.
In 1990, with the help of Phylicia Rashad of "Cosby" fame, James Stovall, Hattie and her husband, composer Harold Wheeler adapted Langston Hughes "Black Nativity" at The Master Theater in New York. The off-Broadway production, entitled "Nativity: A Life Story," won five New York Audelco Awards, including Best Director for Stovall and Ms. Winston and Best Musical for the 1990-91 season.
Born in Lexington, Mississippi, but raised in nearby Greeneville.
Among her many accomplishments, Winston served as national co-chairperson of AFTRA's Equal Employment Opportunities Committee, and was recognized by the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, N.C., with a Hattie Winston Day in 1993 and 1997.
Was honored by the University of Louisville (Kentucky) with a dedication of the Library's Hattie Winston Collection which contains more than 250 scripts, books and theater memorabilia donated principally by Winston.
Following graduation from Howard University, she joined the Group Theatre Workshop in New York, one of the premier black theatre groups on the country at the time.
