
(Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty Images)
Angela Bassett: stunningly beautiful, immensely talented. I’ve loved her since 1993’s What’s Love Got to Do With It and 1995’s How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Let’s appreciate her historical filmography!
Tour of Duty (1989)
A TV series set during the Vietnam War. Basset was in two episodes as “Lt. Camilla Patterson.”
Malcolm X (1992)
As Betty Shabazz, the wife of the legendary Civil Rights leader in this 1960s-set biopic.
The Jacksons: An American Dream (1992)
As Katherine Jackson, mother to Michael and all the rest of the Jackson children, in this TV biopic.
What’s Love Got to Do With It (1993)
As Tina Turner, from her start as a singer in the 1960s through her resurgence in the 1980s.



Panther (1995)
Again playing Betty Shabazz in this semi-fictionalized story of the Black Panther Party.
Ruby’s Bucket of Blood (2001)
“A Louisiana juke joint owner loses her star entertainer and hires a white singer to fill in,” per IMDB.

The Rosa Parks Story (2002)
As legendary civil rights activist Rosa Parks!
Betty and Coretta (2013)
This time playing Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, while Mary J. Blige played Betty Shabazz.
American Horror Story (2013-18)
Jaw-droppingly good as real life New Orleans practitioner of Voodoo, herbalist, and midwife in the “Coven” season; she was also in later seasons, at least one of which is set in the 1950s, from what I can tell from images!





Close to the Enemy (2016)
A British miniseries set just after World War II.

Underground (2017)
As a midwife in one episode of this story of the Underground Railroad.
What’s your favorite Angela Bassett frock flick role?
Does she ever age? The benefit of good cheekbones, I guess.
Some people are just aging so well. You can tell, she‘ll look great in 30 years from now: face, body, attitude. All so fine.
That scene of Tina letting loose in a club for the first time is one of my very favorites. In fact, the whole movie is much better than most entertainer bio-pics. (Good costumes, too, but that goes without saying where T.T. is concerned.)
This! And when her sister’s jaw literally drops. That’s an iconic moment for sure.
Favourite is tied between Malcolm X, Betty & Coretta, and What’s Love… But She makes an awesome Wakandan Queen.
Those last shots from American Horror Story: Freakshow were set in Florida in the 1959s. Angela’s character was in the freak show because she had 3 breasts (!) but she was beautifully dressed. Frances McDormand as a crazy socialite also had some gorgeous period looks.
I watched that season, and don’t remember her, which is tragic.
That’s Frances Conroy, sorry!
Oh…without a doubt, my fave of her historical roles is as Tina Turner in What’s Love Got To Do With It. And, how have I NEVER heard of Betty and Coretta?!?! Angela Bassett is STUNNINGLY beautiful!!!! Even if a costume designer dressed her in a burlap sack, she’d make that look good, too!!