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IMDbPro

Donzaleigh Abernathy

  • Actress
  • Location Management
  • Casting Department
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Donzaleigh Abernathy
Home Video Trailer from Warner Home Video
Play trailer0:31
Gods and Generals (2003)
4 Videos
6 Photos
Donzaleigh Abernathy won the Tanne Foundation 2012 Artist Award for her work as an actress and for her script, "Birmingham Sunday." She starred for four years in over 60 Episodes as a Series Regular on Lifetime Television's critically acclaimed dramatic series, "Any Day Now." She received recognition from Film Critic Roger Ebert for her performance in the Warner Bros. film, "Gods And Generals." She starred as the leading lady in the Emmy and Golden Globe winning HBO Film, "Don King-Only in America," opposite Ving Rhames. In the HBO Emmy and Golden Globe winning "Miss Evers Boys," she co-starred with Alfre Woodard and in NBC's "The Tempest" opposite Golden Globe Award winner, Peter Fonda. She also starred in New Line Cinema's comedy "Grilled" and Lions Gate's comedy "Leprechan 6 - Back 2 'Da Hood." She starred in the Directors Guild of America Award Winning, "Murder In Mississippi."

Audiences also know her from her recurring roles on the TV Series, "EZ Streets," "Commander-In-Chief," "Lincoln Heights," "Dangerous Minds," and "Amazing Grace." She has starred in several Television Movies, "Fatal Exposure," "Abducted - A Father's Love," "Ned Blessing" and "Grassroots."

Emory University's Brave New Works Project produced her screenplay, "Partners to History." For the Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus and National Black Arts Festival at Atlanta's Symphony Hall, she wrote and starred in the Musical, "Lushlife - The Music of Billy Strayhorn." For the Harper's Ferry National Park Service's Centennial Celebration of the Niagara Movement, she wrote and starred in "The Women of Niagara." She wrote and performed "John Brown" for the University of Utah at Park City.

Along with her husband actor/producer Dar Dixon Bijarchi, she created, produced and directed the project, "St. Francis."

She is the youngest daughter born to Mrs. Juanita and Reverend Doctor Ralph David Abernathy, who led with his best friend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. the American Civil Rights Movement, which changed the course of American history. Ms. Abernathy witnessed the integral decision-making process shaping American laws and society, the creation of the Civil Rights Bill, the Public Accommodations Act and the Voting Rights Act.

She authored the history book, "Partners To History, Martin Luther King, Ralph David Abernathy and the Civil Rights Movement," published by Random House/Crown. The coffee table pictorial of American History which is sold out was nominated as one of the "Best Books of 2004" for Young Adults by the American Library Association. Attorney Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. wrote the foreword.

Ms. Abernathy is a founding member of the Board of Trustees of the New Visions Foundation which created New Roads Schools and several other schools in the Los Angeles area. As a public speaker, she has spoken for the Judicial Division of the American Bar Association, the National Association of Women Judges, Harvard Law School, Pepperdine University and Morgan State University, just to name a few. Her life is profiled in the books "Fearless Women" and "No Mountain High Enough - Secrets of Successful African American Women."
BornAugust 5, 1957
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BornAugust 5, 1957
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  • Photos5

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    Known for

    Annie Potts and Lorraine Toussaint in Any Day Now (1998)
    Any Day Now
    8.4
    TV Series
    • Sara Jackson
    • Sarah Jackson
    Danny Trejo in Bad Ass (2012)
    Bad Ass
    5.5
    • Mother
    • 2012
    Andrew Lincoln in The Walking Dead (2010)
    The Walking Dead
    8.1
    TV Series
    • Dr. Stevens
    Bill Cosby, Brooke Fontaine, Salim Grant, and Kimberly Russell in Ghost Dad (1990)
    Ghost Dad
    4.4
    • E.R. Nurse
    • 1990

    Credits

    Edit
    IMDbPro

    Actress



    • Towpath
      • Lela Bryant Johnson
      • Post-production



    • Wife Stalker (2025)
      Wife Stalker
      6.5
      TV Movie
      • IRIS - Mother
      • 2025
    • Taye Diggs, Nicole Lyn, Keesha Sharp, Ciera Payton, and Apryl Jones in Love & Murder: Atlanta Playboy (2023)
      Love & Murder: Atlanta Playboy
      6.8
      • Isabelle Herndon
      • 2023
    • All Rise (2019)
      All Rise
      7.1
      TV Series
      • Ness's Mom
      • 2023
    • Shemar Moore in S.W.A.T. (2017)
      S.W.A.T.
      7.2
      TV Series
      • Ms. Bernard
      • 2023
    • Angela Bassett, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kenneth Choi, Peter Krause, Aisha Hinds, Oliver Stark, and Ryan Guzman in 9-1-1 (2018)
      9-1-1
      7.9
      TV Series
      • Joanne Kingston
      • 2022
    • Jason Isaacs and Sophia Bush in Good Sam (2022)
      Good Sam
      6.0
      TV Series
      • Carla
      • 2022
    • Happy Birthday Granny (2021)
      Happy Birthday Granny
      Short
      • Granny
      • 2021
    • Wilmer Valderrama, Rocky Carroll, Gary Cole, Katrina Law, Sean Murray, Brian Dietzen, and Diona Reasonover in NCIS (2003)
      NCIS
      7.8
      TV Series
      • NSA Deputy Director Ronda Ellis
      • 2021
    • Dolly Gray in The Industry Did It (2020)
      The Industry Did It
      5.7
      • Aunt Urtha
      • 2020
    • Oneironaut (2020)
      Oneironaut
      Short
      • Charlotte Grace
      • 2020
    • Exit Therapy (2019)
      Exit Therapy
      Short
      • Dr. Grimm
      • 2019
    • Stop Feeling Lonely (2019)
      Stop Feeling Lonely
      Short
      • Mother
      • 2019
    • Words & Actions (2019)
      Words & Actions
      8.6
      TV Series
      • Monica Henderson
      • 2019
    • Arlondriah Lenyéa and Lexx Truss in Zarina (2019)
      Zarina
      8.6
      Short
      • Kathy
      • 2019
    • Jason Beghe, Patrick John Flueger, Marina Squerciati, and LaRoyce Hawkins in Chicago P.D. (2014)
      Chicago P.D.
      8.1
      TV Series
      • Jeanette Barnes
      • 2017

    Location Management



    • Vietnam War Story (1987)
      Vietnam War Story
      7.6
      TV Series
      • unit production assistant
      • 1987

    Casting Department



    • After Dark, My Sweet (1990)
      After Dark, My Sweet
      6.5
      • extras casting director
      • 1990
    • Bruce Willis and Emily Lloyd in In Country (1989)
      In Country
      5.9
      • casting assistant
      • 1989

    Videos4

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    Clip 0:35
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    Clip 0:59
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    Clip 0:59
    Sleight
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    Clip 1:07
    Sleight
    Gods and Generals
    Trailer 0:31
    Gods and Generals

    Personal details

    Edit
    • Official sites
      • A Sample of the Acting and Directing Reel of Donzaleigh ABERNATHY'S work
      • web site
    • Alternative names
      • Donzaleigh Avis Abernathy
    • Height
      • 5′ 4½″ (1.64 m)
    • Born
      • August 5, 1957
      • USA
    • Spouse
      • Dar Dixon? - present
    • Other works
      Book: "Partners to History: Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph David Abernathy, and the Civil Rights Movement". Crown Books, ISBN: 0609609149
    • Publicity listings
      • 6 Print Biographies
      • 2 Interviews

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Daughter of Dr. Ralph David Abernathy, co-founder of the American Civil Rights movement, and Mrs. Juanita Jones Abernathy, who was also an activist.

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