Denise Dowse

Denise Yvonne Dowse (February 21, 1958 – August 13, 2022) was an American actress. She was best known for her roles as Mrs. Yvonne Teasley in the television series Beverly Hills, 90210 (1991–2000),^[2] Judge Rebecca Damsen in The Guardian (2001–2004), and Dr. Rhonda Pine in Insecure.

Denise Dowse
Born	Denise Yvonne Dowse (1958-02-21)February 21, 1958 Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, U.S.
Died	August 13, 2022(2022-08-13) (aged 64)
Education	Norfolk State University (BA)[1]
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1988–2022

Dowse's film roles included Olivia Biggs in Bio-Dome (1996), Sky Marshal Meru in Starship Troopers (1997), Judge Constance Mullen in A Civil Action (1998), Marlene Andre in Ray, Principal Garrison in Coach Carter (2005), and Flora in The Call (2013).

Early life

Denise Yvonne Dowse was born on February 21, 1958,^[3] in Honolulu, Hawaii, the daughter of a naval officer. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Norfolk State University.^[1]

Career

Dowse started acting in 1989, playing Angela Quartermane in an episode of the television series Almost There.

From 1989, she appeared in numerous TV series, such as ALF, Full House, Murphy Brown, Seinfeld, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ER, Charmed, Shark, The Mentalist, Monk, and House.

Dowse appeared in the 2005 comedy film Guess Who, featuring Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher.

Dowse became best known for her role of Yvonne Teasley on Beverly Hills, 90210,^[4][5] after appearing as Judge Rebecca Damsen on The Guardian from 2001 through 2004. From 1993 to 1994, she appeared as a recurring character known as Vice Principal McBride in the television series California Dreams.

From 2000 to 2004, she provided the voice of Officer Shirley in the Nickelodeon animated series Rocket Power for the last three seasons of the show's run, replacing CCH Pounder, who voiced the character in the first season.

In 2020, she appeared as Valeria in the thriller film Fatale, featuring Hilary Swank, Michael Ealy, and Mike Colter.^[6]

Dowse directed the drama film Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story, featuring Ledisi, Corbin Bleu, Keith David, Vanessa Williams, and Columbus Short.^[7] The film premiered in April 2022, at the 30th Pan African Film and Arts Festival in Los Angeles.^[8]

Death

Dowse fell into a coma in August 2022, in connection with meningitis.^[9] She died on August 13, 2022, at the age of 64.^[10]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Coldfire	Channing
1992	Sneakers	Bank Teller
	Out for Blood	Neighborhood Woman	Credited as Denise Y. Dowse
1993	Merchant of Evil	Nurse #1
1994	Helicopter	Malik's Mother	Short film
1996	Bio-Dome	Olivia Biggs
1997	Starship Troopers	Sky Marshal Meru
1998	Pleasantville	Health Teacher
	A Civil Action	Judge Constance Mullen
1999	K-911	Dr. Perkins, DVM
2000	Requiem for a Dream	Tyrone's Mother
2001	Dr. Dolittle 2	Secretary
2002	Book of Love: The Definitive Reason Why Men Are Dogs	Mom
2003	Rats	Matilda
2004	The Seat Filler	Derrick's Mom
	Eulogy	Judge
	Ray	Marlene Andre
2005	Coach Carter	Principal Garrison
	Guess Who	Lisa
2007	Reign Over Me	Psychiatric Hospital Therapist
	Her Best Move	Lisa
2010	Anger Has a Secret	Sarah
2011	Fly Away	Susan	Credited as Denise Y. Dowse
2012	The Longer Day of Happiness	Lydia Jones
2013	The Call	Flora
2017	Please Stand By	Doris the Bus Driver
	Like Father	Olivia	Short film
	By His Stripes	Ruth
2018	A Stone Cold Christmas	Deaconess
2019	Loners	Clara Maloy
2020	Grey Streets	Aunt Suzanna
	Fatale	Valeria Tyler
	Celeste's Dream	Dr. Soji Spark	Short film
2022	A Cloud So High	Detective Trina McWilliams	Final film role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Almost There!	Angela Quartermane	Episode: "Miss Shelley B."
	ALF	FBI #4	Credited as Denise Y. Dowse Episode: "Wanted Dead or Alive"
1990	Beverly Hills, 90210	Professor Harriet Strathmore	Episode: "The 17 Year Itch"
1991	Jake and the Fatman	Maggie Day	Episode: "Come Along with Me"
	Roc	Dr. Worthy	Credited as Denise Y. Dowse Episode: "Rock-A-Bye Baby"
1991–2000	Beverly Hills, 90210	Vice Principal Yvonne Teasley	23 episodes
1992	Seinfeld	Marsha	Episode: "The Wallet"
	Bodies of Evidence	Kim's Mother	Episode: "Afternoon Delights"
	Roc	Dr. Russell	Episode: "The Artificial Insemination Story"
1993	Full House	Mrs. Jacobs	Episode: "Be True to Your Pre-School"
	Thea	Laverne	Episode: "A Christmas Story"
1993–1994	California Dreams	Vice Principal McBride	Recurring cast
1994	The Enemy Within	Dr. Jarvis	Television film
	Murphy Brown	Woman #2	Episode: "Brown vs. the Board of Education"
	Seinfeld	Elenore	Episode: "The Couch"
1995	See Jane Run		Television film
	Sketch Artist II: Hands That See	Dispatcher
	Vanishing Son	Trailer Park Neighbor	Episode: "Sweet Sixteen"
	Kissing Miranda	Cristianne	Television film
1996	Touched by an Angel	Judge Caldwell	Episode: "Flesh and Blood"
	Men Behaving Badly	Mrs. Carlson	Episode: "Drunken Proposal"
1997	Killing Mr. Griffin	Detective Pruitt	Television film
	Tracey Takes On...	Arthell	Episode: "Race Relations"
	Ink	Mrs. Punter	Episode: "Logan's Run"
	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Ms. Miller	Episode: "Out of Mind, Out of Sight"
	Built to Last	Sylvia Watkins	8 episodes
	Chicago Hope	Doris Harper	Episode: "On Golden Pons"
1998	NewsRadio	Adoption Agent	Episode: "Look Who's Talking"
	Step by Step	Judge Martin	Episode: "And Justice for Some"
	ER	Mrs. Lysell	Episode: "Day for Knight"
	Any Day Now	Councilwoman Rene Broussard	Episode: "No Comment"
	Sister, Sister	Alease	Episode: "The Domino Effect"
	Party of Five	Nora	Episode: "Gifts"
1999	Promised Land	Mrs. Groves	Episode: "What's in a Word"
	Recess	Additional Voice	Episode: "The Candidate"
	Rugrats	Sheila Swann	Voice, episode: "Tommy for Mayor"[11]
2000	Moesha	Hattie	Episode: "Secrets & Lies"
	The West Wing	Nurse #1	Uncredited Episode: "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen: Part 1"
	Grown Ups	Gloria	Episode: "New Job"
2000–2004	Rocket Power	Officer Shirley	Voice, 7 episodes
2001	Becker	Janet Katz	Episode: "The Trouble with Harry"
	The Practice	Caroline	Episode: "The Thin Line"
	The Drew Carey Show	Doctor #2	Episode: "Drew and the Baby"
	Girlfriends	Emily Griffin	Episode: "The Burning Vagina Monologues"
2001–2004	The Guardian	Judge Rebecca Damsen	32 episodes
2002	Philly	Sondra Herman	Episode: "Mojo Rising"
	What About Your Friends: Weekend Getaway	Mona	Television film
	Judging Amy	Ms. Shepard	Episode: "Lost in the System"
	Without a Trace	Mrs. Ray	Episode: "Little Big Man"
2003	Dragnet	Juanita Hendrucks	3 episodes
	Girlfriends	Lucyruth	Episode: "Inherit the Lynn"
2004	Nip/Tuck	Cecily Sutherland	Episode: "Joel Gideon"
	Everwood	Laura Hoover	Episode: "The Birds and the Batteries"
2004–2006	All of Us	Counselor / Dr. Shapiro	4 episodes
2005	Inconceivable	Alice Godchaux	Episode: "Balls in Your Court"
	Threshold	Dr. Margaret Johnson	Episode: "Progeny"
2005–2006	Charmed	Angel of Destiny	3 episodes
2006	The Bernie Mac Show	Doctor	Episode: "Exercise in Fertility: Part 2"
2007	Gilmore Girls	Judge	Episode: "To Whom It May Concern"
	Law & Order	Judge Nora Glover	Episode: "Good Faith"
	Shark	Judge Jane Briar	3 episodes
2008	The Mentalist	Detective Carla Mulvey	Episode: "Ladies in Red"
2009	Saving Grace	Mrs. Williams	Episode: "Take Me Somewhere, Earl"
	Monk	Samantha Austin	Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Dog"
2010	House	Glenda	Episode: "Moving the Chains"
	Class	Patty Allen	Television film
2011	Bones	Dr. Sherry Bannon	Episode: "The Change in the Game"
	Reed Between the Lines	Ms. Ellis	Episode: "Let's Talk About Boundaries"
2011–2012	Criminal Minds	Yvonne Burns	2 episodes
2013	Monday Mornings	Mrs. Fisher	Episode: "Family Ties"
	Rizzoli & Isles	Judge	Episode: "Dance with the Devil"
2014	Hungry	Ann	Episode: "Interviews"
	Laugh Gym	Agnes	Television film
2015	Secrets and Lies	Elaine Williams	9 episodes
2016	Castle	Judge Gloria Wollcott	Episode: "Witness for the Prosecution"
	Murder in the First	Rainelle James	3 episodes
2017–2018	Imposters	Auntie Colleen / Agent Cook	10 episodes
2017–2020	Insecure	Dr. Rhonda Pine	6 episodes
2018	The X-Files	Dr. Babsi Russel	Episode: "Plus One"
	Mr. Mercedes	Judge Helfrick	Episode: "Fade to Blue"
2019	9-1-1	David's Wife	Episode: "Chimney Begins"
	Good Trouble	Naomi / Secretary	4 episodes
	New Amsterdam	Alfreda Watson	Episode: "Righteous Right Hand"
	The Resident	Carol Austin	2 episodes
2019–2021	Snowfall	Mrs. Mosley	2 episodes
2020	Grey's Anatomy	Lorraine Simms	Episode: "Help Me Through the Night"
	Stumptown	Mrs. Hofman	2 episodes
	Pandemically Single	Donna Sawyer	Unknown episodes
2021	Three Days	Will's Mom	Episode: "Pilot"
	The Wedding Games	Susan Clearwater	Television film
	Bronzeville	Emma / Sarah Davis	2 episodes

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Rocket Power: Beach Bandits	Officer Shirley, Female Shoobie	[11]