Lynda Gravátt, New York Stage Stalwart, Dies at 77

A New York stage stalwart, Gravátt was born May 24, 1946 in Harlem. On Broadway, she stood by for Leslie Uggams in August Wilson’s King Headley II, Adriane Lenox in John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt, and Phylicia Rashad in Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, as well as played the role of Bessie in Neil Simon’s 45 Seconds from Broadway.

Gravátt had a prosperous career off-Broadway, appearing in new plays and revivals alike. She received a Theatre World Award in 1999 for starring in the John Henry Redwood play The Old Settler for Primary Stages and played Mrs. Dickson in the original production of Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel, for which she received an AUDELCO Award. She earned three AUDELCO nominations, for Signature Theatre’s 2007 revival of King Headley II, Atlantic Theatre Company’s off-Broadway premiere of Dominique Morissea’s Skeleton Crew in 2016, and the 2018 New York Theatre Workshop production of Marcus Gardley’s The House That Will Not Stand. Her off-Broadway credits also include Ivo van Hove’s revival of The Little Foxes and the off-Broadway run of Horton Foote’s Dividing the Estate.

Regionally, she worked across the country at venues ranging from Hartford Stage to Ford’s Theatre to Alabama Shakespeare. Gravátt appeared in the three editions of Law & Order, 30 Rock, The Good Wife, Madam Secretary, and most recently, East New York.

A graduate of Howard University, Gravátt is survived by her children and five grandchildren.