Caroline âÂÂLynnieâ Godfrey (born 1952) is an American actress, singer, author, director and producer.
Lynnie Godfrey was born in 1952 in New York City. She began performing as a child, singing with her mother and family members in Pentecostal churches in Harlem and Brooklyn.
As a child, Godfrey attended The Modern School, a private school for black children in Harlem (Sugar Hill). It was founded by Mildred Johnson, whose uncle, James Weldon Johnson, wrote the Negro National Anthem, âÂÂLift Every Voice and Sing.â Godfrey later attended George Washington High School in Washington Heights, whose alumni include, Harry Belafonte, Henry Kissinger and Ron Perlman. Godfrey also studied voice with Dr. Chauncy Northern, one of the first black opera singers to perform on the Italian stage at the Northern Vocal Arts School at Carnegie Hall.
Godfrey attended NorthernâÂÂs alma mater, Hampton University for a year. Returning to New York City's Hunter College, she studied with Lloyd Richards and began auditioning.
After graduating from college, Godfrey performed in both theatre productions and nightclubs, including the new Cotton Club. She appeared as Elaine in Christopher DurangâÂÂs âÂÂThe Nature and Purpose of the Universeâ and appeared in the title role of âÂÂMama LibertyâÂÂs Bicentennial Partyâ for Theatre for the New City, a street theatre performance for children.
In February 1978, Godfrey appeared in a new musical showcase: âÂÂShuffle Alongâ with Dabriah Chapman, Vernon Spencer and Roger Lawson, which led to a new musical revue, âÂÂEubie!.â Based on the life and work of Eubie Blake, who, along with collaborator, Noble Sissle, created âÂÂShuffle Along,â one of the first Broadway musicals written and directed by African Americans. The show moved to Broadway in September 1978 and Godfrey was cast to perform several Eubie Blake songs, including âÂÂDaddy, WonâÂÂt You Please Come Home?â and âÂÂIâÂÂm Cravinâ for That Kind of LoveâÂÂ; along with âÂÂIâÂÂm Just Wild About Harry.â She was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her Broadway debut. The showâÂÂs original cast includes: Gregory Hines, Maurice Hines, Alaina Reed, Janet Powell, Marion Ramsey, Ethel Beatty, Terry Burrell, Leslie Dockery, Lonnie McNeil, Jeffery V. Thompson, Melvin Johnson Jr.
A member of Negro Actors Guild of America (NAG), Godfrey also appeared in film and television, including 704 Hauser, a Norman Lear sitcom, created as an African American spinoff to All in the Family.
Godfrey has also originated several theatre roles, including The Snow Queen, which she continues to perform today. One of the first women of color to be cast in famous musical roles, these include Lola in Damn Yankees and Jenny Diver in Three Penny Opera.
In 2002, Godfrey founded Godlee Entertainment, a production company committed to nurturing emerging playwrights and producing new work. As Producing Artistic Director, she also oversees âÂÂThe Essence of Acting,â a New York City-based acting group, created to encourage aspiring African American actors. Most recently, she has been directing, producing and performing in a new play, âÂÂGreenwood: An American Dream Destroyed,â by Celeste Bedford Walker. The play chronicles the rise and fall of Greenwood, a black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Known in the 1920s as âÂÂNegro Wall Street,â Greenwood was a prosperous community, destroyed over two days in 1921, when a white mob burned it to the ground. Godfrey has produced the play at the New York Theatre Workshop, University of Delaware, Theatre Institute at Sage in Troy, NY and ArtsQuest, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
In 2023, she became the president of the League of Professional Theatre Women, a multidiscliplinary membership organization for professional theater women working in the theater.
Married to Carl Lee in 1979. They were introduced by Gregory Hines, who served as best man at their wedding.