Cassandra Braden

Cassandra Braden (born April 11, 1960) is an American film actress.

Biography

Early life

Cassandra Braden was born in Castro Valley, California to Robert and Ruth Braden. Raised in the Oakland area, she attended Oakland High School and then eventually graduated from the University of San Francisco with a Major in Organizational Behavior.

Career

Braden started her acting career at the age of five. Her mother put her in her first acting and dance class at East Oakland's Arroyo Viejo Parks and recreation. She made her first stage debut at the "Oakland Auditorium" as one of the Fairies in Oakland's Annual Christmas Pageant for thousands with The Famous powerhouse dance teacher Louise Jorgenson.

In 1990, Braden moved from the Bay Area to Los Angeles to pursue her dream on fulltime basis. By 1993, she had won a Drama Logue Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Mama in A Raisin in the Sun.

Film

In 1998, Braden landed her first film role as “Helen” in the Sundance Favorite “One” with Director Tony Barbieri. A year later, Braden had read for a part in the film Empress of the Blues, the Bessie Smith Story. In an article in Essence Magazine, the director stated "meanwhile, several famous divas auditioned to play Bessie Smith, one of our greatest blues singers (who died in 1937 at age 42), but the tour de force role went to newcomer Cassandra Braden."

Film roles kept coming. In 2005, Braden landed the role of Eula Jackson in Window with director Varda Hardy, which starred Louis Gossett Jr. The film was voted Moving Pictures most moving film and showed at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007. She also worked a second time with Director Tony Barbieri in his latest film EM.

Television

In 2000, Braden landed a role in Arrest and Trial, a television pilot by Law and Order creator [...] Wolf. From there she landed T.V. roles in Untold Stories of the ER, Everybody Hates Chris, and in 2007, she landed roles in the CBS pilot Protect and Serve, S.O.B. (Socially Offensive Behavior), and Grey’s Anatomy as part of the Housekeeping Staff.

Filmography

Year

Title

Role

Notes

1998

One

Helen

2000

Arrest & Trial

Patsy Jones (unknown episodes)

2002

Nocturnal

Taxi Driver

2003

First Watch

Melissa

2003

The Gun

Missy

TV

2004

Today

Margaret

2005

Untold Stories of the ER

Barbara Simmons

TV Episode - Court Ordered Transfusion

2005

Windows

Eula Jackson

2006

Everybody Hates Chris

Teacher

TV Episode 1 - Everybody Hates Superstition

2007

Protect and Serve

Dispatcher #1

(TV)