WBGO and the entertainment industry are mourning the loss of actress and singer Suzzanne Douglas, best known for her leading role in the Robert Townsend sitcom The Parent ‘Hood.
Her loving husband, Jono, says that Suzzanne died on Tuesday at their vacation home on Martha's Vineyard, from cancer-related complications. She was 64.
In a 2017 interview on WBGO, Douglas reiterated her love of jazz as a performer, teacher and student: "Historical, necessary, vital. Those are words that just come to mind when I think jazz — but WBGO."
Douglas had many television roles, and was a huge hit at the George Street Playhouse, where she talked about how audiences need to be engaged once the show is over. In this case it was Christopher Demos-Brown's American Son.
"I'd like people to leave the theater not only having dialogue surrounding the show," Douglas said, "but to be very proactive in their homes, with their children and then take it out into their communities."
A caring and special lady who even played the role of Billie Holiday at GSP, she will be greatly missed and our hearts go out to her family.
