Artist

Tamara has a distinguished body of work that encompasses stage, television and film. Last year she was seen in the role of Cissy Houston, mother of the great American icon Whitney Houston, in I Wanna Dance with Somebody, reuniting her with Caveman’s Valentine and Eve’s Bayou director, Kasi Lemmons.

Ms. Tunie also triumphed on the London stage last season at the Old Vic in the critically-acclaimed production of Mike Bartlett’s The 47th, in which she starred as Kamala Harris opposite Bertie Carvel’s Donald Trump in a futuristic imagining of a presidential run-off between the two. Under the direction of Rupert Goold, Tunie received glowing notices: “Tamara Tunie is magnetizing in her performance,” “the charismatic Tamara Tunie,” “utterly convincing,” “sturdy under fire.”

One of the distinct hallmarks of Ms. Tunie’s remarkable career is a long examination of American culture and its unique social and power dynamics. Beginning with such films as Oliver Stone's Wall Street with Michael Douglas, Harold Becker's City Hall with Al Pacino, Taylor Hackford's Devil’s Advocate with Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron, to Robert Zemeckis' Flight opposite Denzel Washington, with whom she also starred on Broadway as "Calpurnia" in Julius Caesar, Ms. Tunie’s attraction to content with depth and meaning is apparent. This thread continues with the Sundance TV series The Red Road, where Tamara starred as the challenged Native-American tribal chief “Marie Van Der Veen” opposite Jason Momoa; the BBC/Netflix international drama Black Earth Rising which scrutinizes the West's complicity in the destabilization of Africa, portraying “Under-Secretary of State, Eunice Clayton;” and AMC's Dietland where she explored the underbelly of the American Beauty-Industrial Complex as “Julia,” manager of the mysterious "beauty closet.”

Ms. Tunie’s award-winning stage works include the world premiere of American Son, a searing examination of race and class in which she originated the role of “Kendra Ellis-Connor;” her Obie-Award winning turn as "Marvelous" in Danai Gurira's Familiar, which grapples with identity, assimilation, tradition and the clashing of ideals of an African-Immigrant family; and most recently she starred in the world premiere of Bernarda’s Daughters, where she portrayed matriarch “Florence Delva” with “oracular grandeur,” another contemporary play that “mines” the effects of gentrification, police brutality and what it means to be “American,”  in a Haitian-American family in Brooklyn.

Ms. Tunie’s directing credits include the premiere of Feelin’ Good! starring Tony Award-winner LaChanze. She produced and directed the feature film See You in September, and Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (a Pandemic/ZOOM film short, featuring Patina Miller), directed and co-wrote the world premiere of Jazzland at The Harlem School of the Arts, and is directing a new musical in development, entitled Marian, about the life of the world-changing Opera Diva, Marian Anderson. Most recently, Ms. Tunie won “The Best Director Award” from the New York Theatre Festival, 2023, for helming the new musical, Dorothy Dandridge! The Musical.

Ms. Tunie first gained an international following in the role of medical examiner “Dr. Melinda Warner” with 23 seasons on Dick Wolf's legendary NBC series Law & Order: SVU. She was a series regular on the Netflix cult favorite Cowboy Bebop, and she appeared on the Apple-TV futuristic-drama See as "The Bank” opposite Jason Momoa and Alfre Woodard.  

Recurring guest-starring roles include such hit shows as Almost Family, Emergence, Better Call Saul, Blue Bloods, Billions, Alpha House, 24, Elementary, The Good Wife and Survivor’s Remorse.

Ms. Tunie is a Founder of Black Theatre United. She is Chair Emerita of the Board of Directors of Figure Skating in Harlem, a non-profit organization that supports academic excellence and instills life skills to young girls in the Harlem community through the art and discipline of figure skating, to ensure they are champions “off the Ice!” She serves on the Board of Directors at Harlem Stage/The Gatehouse, City Theatre Company in Pittsburgh, and is on the Advisory Board of Hearts of Gold, a not for profit that supports women and their children in New York City shelters, and helps them transition out of the system.

In 2005, Mayor Bloomberg awarded Ms. Tunie the "Made in New York Award" from the City of New York, for her support and commitment to Film, Television and Theater.

Ms. Tunie holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Carnegie-Mellon University, and now serves on the Executive Board of Trustees.