Shirley Jo Finney

Shirley Jo Finney
Shirley Jo Finney
	Finney (left) with Jason Bernard in 1977
Born	July 14, 1949; Merced, California, U.S.
Died	October 10, 2023 (aged 74); Bellingham, Washington, U.S.
Education	Sacramento State College (BFA); University of California, Los Angeles (MFA);
Occupations	Actress; director;
Years active	1973–2023

Shirley Jo Finney (July 14, 1949 – October 10, 2023) was an American actress and theater director.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Quick facts Born, Died ...

Finney was born in Merced, California, in 1949, and grew up primarily in Sacramento, California.^[4] She graduated from Sacramento State College with a degree in theater in 1971, where she met and befriended Wilma Rudolph. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1973 with a master's degree in theater arts, and thereafter began an acting career.^[4] She portrayed Wilma Rudolph in the 1977 television film Wilma.^[3]^[4] Finney continued to act into the 1990s.^[4] She attended the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women.^[2]

As a director, Finney worked with The Fountain Theatre for many years, where she directed eight productions.^[1] She also directed plays at the Mark Taper Forum, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Humana Festival.^[2] Her work earned her recognition from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, the Ovation Awards and the NAACP.^[2] In 2008, she was attached to direct a Broadway revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, but the production was scrapped due to a lack of funding.^[4] Finney directed plays across the United States, and her last credit was a 2023 production of Clyde's at The Ensemble Theatre in Houston.^[1]^[2]

Finney died from multiple myeloma at a hospital in Bellingham, Washington, on October 10, 2023, at the age of 74.^[2]^[4]

Filmography