Danitra Vance (July , â€" August , ) was an American comedian and
actress best known as a cast member on the NBC sketch show Saturday
Night Live (SNL) during its eleventh season and for work in feature
films like Sticky Fingers (), Limit Up () and Jumpin' at the Boneyard
(). She performed for The Second City, was an "Off-Broadway favorite",
and was the first black woman of the primary SNL cast and, along with
Terry Sweeney, the first openly LGBT member, though she was not openly
out. Her comedy and theater work featured themes of social issues,
including that of being consistently stereotyped during casting.
During her career, she received an Obie Award and an NAACP Image
Award.In , Vance was diagnosed with breast cancer. She performed
several works through remission and recurrence until her death in .
Before her death, she requested her family host her services at an
amusement park.Raised in the South Side, Chicago, Vance grew up with
her mother, younger sister, and maternal grandparents in a household
where telling stories was the main form of entertainment, and
graduated from nearby Thornton Township High School in . In high
school she was active in theater and was a member of the debate team.
She later attended National College of Education before transferring
to Roosevelt University in , where she studied playwriting and acting,
and graduated with honors. She then moved to London to study at Webber
Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, where she was classically trained in
Shakespeare and earned a MFA.
actress best known as a cast member on the NBC sketch show Saturday
Night Live (SNL) during its eleventh season and for work in feature
films like Sticky Fingers (), Limit Up () and Jumpin' at the Boneyard
(). She performed for The Second City, was an "Off-Broadway favorite",
and was the first black woman of the primary SNL cast and, along with
Terry Sweeney, the first openly LGBT member, though she was not openly
out. Her comedy and theater work featured themes of social issues,
including that of being consistently stereotyped during casting.
During her career, she received an Obie Award and an NAACP Image
Award.In , Vance was diagnosed with breast cancer. She performed
several works through remission and recurrence until her death in .
Before her death, she requested her family host her services at an
amusement park.Raised in the South Side, Chicago, Vance grew up with
her mother, younger sister, and maternal grandparents in a household
where telling stories was the main form of entertainment, and
graduated from nearby Thornton Township High School in . In high
school she was active in theater and was a member of the debate team.
She later attended National College of Education before transferring
to Roosevelt University in , where she studied playwriting and acting,
and graduated with honors. She then moved to London to study at Webber
Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, where she was classically trained in
Shakespeare and earned a MFA.
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