Marsha Warfield
*Marsha Warfield was born on born on this date in 1954. She is a Black Lesbian actress and comedian.
Marsha Francine Warfield grew up on Chicago's South Side, graduating from Calumet High School. She received her big comic career break as a member of Richard Pryor's TV sketch program in 1977. Warfield has appeared in feature films such as D.C. Cab (1983) and Mask (1985). She is best known for her 1986–92 role as Roz Russell on the Top 10-rated NBC sitcom Night Court. Roz was the tough, no-nonsense bailiff in Judge Stone's court. In the sitcom Empty Nest, Warfield also starred as Dr. Maxine Douglas (1993–95).
Before Night Court, she was a writer and performer on the short-lived Richard Pryor Show. She hosted The Marsha Warfield Show for ten months (March 1990–January 1991) and has made guest appearances on many television shows, including Riptide, Family Ties, Clueless, Cheers, Living Single, In Living Color, Moesha and Touched by an Angel. She has also done stand-up comedy, including appearances on the Norm Crosby-hosted The Comedy Shop television series.
In 2017, Warfield publicly stated, "When I told my mother I was gay, she said she knew, and had known all my life. Then, she asked me not to come out publicly while she was alive. I agreed, even though the request and her admission were hurtful in ways I couldn't put my finger on then and probably haven't completely worked through now. But everybody who knew me knew I was gay. The people I didn't tell knew and tacitly agreed to pretend that the unacknowledged had been acknowledged and accepted. Like I'm sure this is true for millions of other glass-door closeted people. When I went to bars, which was frequent, I never tried to hide who I was. So, it was an open secret. Many people would have known if I had never come out publicly.
It would not have been a betrayal of trust to "spill the beans." Because it wasn't a secret, it was an uncomfortably kept promise to my mother. But it was also not the only reason I didn't come out swinging when she passed. The fear of the judgment of strangers and their holier-than-thou "shoulds" was at least as big of a burden to bear. But the "shoulds" that "should" matter don't. Nobody should have to hide their sexuality. No parent should ask their child to. There should be no shame in being gay."
