Lorraine Toussaint (Finding Aid)

Lorraine Toussaint

1960 -

Favorite Color: Any color warm and buttery (yellow)

Favorite Food: Stewed ox tails

Favorite Time of Year: Summer

Favorite Vacation Spot: Caribbean

Interview Length: 167 minutes

Interview Date(s): October 6, 2004

Interview Location(s): Los Angeles, California

Abstract

Lorraine Toussaint talks about her mother's ancestry, personality and the extended family matriarchy that influenced her as a child. Toussaint recalls her father's rural family origins. Lastly, Toussaint talks about the European influences, ethnic groups and skin color politics that exist in Trinidadian culture. Lorraine Toussaint recalls meeting her father's family in Trinidad as an adult, and talks about his personality. Toussaint then shares her some of her traumatic childhood memories when her mother went to the U.S. to work for three years. She then shares a story representative of her mother's feisty personality. Lastly Toussaint recalls her journey to the U.S. to rejoin her mother at age ten. Lorraine Toussaint recalls emigrating to the U.S. from Trinidad at age ten. Toussaint then details her very first fight. She then talks about the schools she attended in Trinidad and the U.S. and comments on the teachers that inspired her. Toussaint recounts how she chose acting as a career and talks about how she was accepted at New York's High School for the Performing Arts. Lastly, Toussaint reflects on her teenage years and the hardships experienced due to her mother's illness. Lorraine Toussaint recalls the difficulties balancing her education and career aspirations with caring for her disabled mother. Toussaint describes the rigors of the Julliard School's teaching methods and then comments on her inability to get acting roles due to racial or ethnic prejudices. She then discusses many of the roles she's played, her acting role models, and lastly, her approach to acting. Lorraine Toussaint talks about her acting technique and details her preparation for roles, using the advice actress Sally Field gave her. Toussaint then recounts the various movie and television roles she played throughout the 1990s. Lorraine Toussaint recalls her first movie working with a black director and shares her career highlights. Toussaint then shares her hopes and concerns for the African American community and those in the acting business in Hollywood. She then comments on her future endeavors, including her aspirations to become a Spiritual Therapist. Lastly, Toussaint considers her legacy and how she wishes to be remembered.

40 Stories (See Ordered Story Set)