Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder (born December 25, 1952) is a Guyanese actress based in the United States. She is best known for portraying Claudette Wyms on the American police drama series The Shield (2002–08), Mo'at in the Avatar franchise (2009–present), and medical examiner Dr. Loretta Wade on NCIS: New Orleans (2014–21). She has received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her roles in The X-Files (1994), ER (1994–97), The Shield, and The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (2009).
Pounder portrayed recurring roles on television such as Irene Frederic in Warehouse 13 (2009–14) and District Attorney Tyne Patterson in Sons of Anarchy (2013–14). Pounder was also the voice of Amanda Waller in the animated series Justice League Unlimited (2004–06), a role that she has reprised in various later DC Comics media.
In film, she appeared in All That Jazz (1979), Go Tell It on the Mountain (1984), Prizzi's Honor (1985), Bagdad Cafe (1987), Postcards from the Edge (1990), Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990), Benny & Joon (1993), Demon Knight (1995), Face/Off (1997), End of Days (1999), Orphan (2009), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and The Naked Gun (2025).
Early life and education
Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder was born in British Guiana (now Guyana) Her name was given in honor of her grandmothers and godmothers. She was raised on a sugar plantation managed by her father, Ronald Arlington Pounder. At one point, her family moved to London, where her mother, Betsy Enid Arnella (née James), worked at the United States Embassy. Pounder attended a Catholic boarding school in Sussex, England.
Pounder enrolled at Hastings College of Arts and Technology where she studied painting, but dropped out in her first year after moving to the United States. Her family had already settled in New York while she was attending school. Pounder graduated from Ithaca College in 1975. She said her parents did not support her choice to be an actress; her mother wanted her to be a newscaster. She continued her career in New York City theater, where she starred in Shakespeare in the Park productions of Coriolanus She starred in the film Bagdad Café,<!--"Bagdad" is the correct spelling for this film.--> and has made smaller appearances in many other films.
Pounder focused primarily on her television career. In the early 1980s, she first appeared in guest roles on Hill Street Blues, and then on several shows (The Cosby Show, L.A. Law, The X-Files, Living Single, and Quantum Leap) before landing a long-running recurring role as Dr. Angela Hicks on ER from 1994 to 1997. She also co-starred in the Tales From the Crypt feature film Demon Knight (1995). She then returned to guest appearances on other shows, including The Practice, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Millennium, The West Wing (where she was considered for the role of C. J. Cregg), and the short-lived sitcom Women in Prison.thumb|right|250x250px|CCH Pounder and [[Glenn Close at the Peabody Awards in 2006]]
From 2002 to 2008, she starred as Detective Claudette Wyms in the FX police drama The Shield. For this role she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2005 and an NAACP Image Award. as well as the video game Batman: Arkham Origins, its sequel Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, and another animated film that takes place in continuity with the games, Batman: Assault on Arkham.
Pounder was also one of the readers for the HBO film Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narrative (2003). She appeared on the Syfy series Warehouse 13 from 2009 until its finale on May 19, 2014. Pounder also was one of the stars of Fox's cancelled 2009 sitcom Brothers. Pounder was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her appearance in the BBC/HBO series The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. She had a recurring role as DA Thyne Patterson on the FX crime drama series Sons of Anarchy (2013–14). She co-starred in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013). In Disney's The Lion Guard she voices Kongwe, the wise old turtle.
In 1996, Pounder served as a guest judge for the 1996 Miss USA Pageant, in South Padre Island, Texas.
Advocacy
As one of the founders of Artists for a Free South Africa (later renamed Artists for a New South Africa) in 1989, along with a number of other Hollywood actors, including Alfre Woodard, Pounder helped to energize awareness of post-apartheid and HIV/AIDS issues. In an interview, she said about the pandemic: "When it's this massive disease, and it's affecting things in 5,000 different ways, it requires great strength and power – and there is power in numbers. So we need to involve as many people as we can, like we do with ANSA. I call it my little engine that could. It is a remarkable, tiny organization with a huge outreach. We use actors and artists with the biggest voices so they can use every opportunity to talk about AIDS."
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable"| Notes
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1979
| All That Jazz
| Nurse Blake
|
|-
| Coriolanus
| Valeria
|
|-
| 1980
| Union City
| Mrs. Lewis
|
|-
| 1982
| I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can
| Anne
|
|-
| 1984
| Go Tell It on the Mountain
| Deborah
|
|-
| 1985
| Prizzi's Honor
| 'Peaches' Altamont
|
|-
| 1987
| Bagdad Café
| Brenda
|
|-
| 1990
| Postcards from the Edge
| Julie Marsden
|
|-
| 1992
| The Importance of Being Earnest
| Miss Prism
|
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1993
| Benny & Joon
| Dr. Garvey
|
|-
| RoboCop 3
| Bertha
|
|-
| Sliver
| Lt. Victoria Hendrix
|
|-
| 1995
| Demon Knight
| Irene
|
|-
| 1996
| Aladdin and the King of Thieves
| The Oracle (voice)
|
|-
| 1997
| Face/off
| Hollis Miller
|
|-
|rowspan=2| 1998
| Melting Pot
| Lucinda Davis
|
|-
| Blossoms and Veils
| –
| Short
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1999
| Funny Valentines
| Ethel B.
|
|-
| The Big Day
| Pearl
|
|-
| End of Days
| Det. Marge Francis
|
|-
| 2001
| Things Behind the Sun
| Judge
|
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2002
| Tét Grenné
| Sally
|
|-
| Baby of the Family
| Nurse Bloom
|
|-
| 2003
| Unchained Memories
| Reader
|
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2008
| Rain
| Ms. Adams
|
|-
| Breaking the Maya Code
| Narrator
| Documentary
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2009
| Orphan
| Sister Abigail
|
|-
| Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
| Amanda Waller (voice)
|
|-
| Avatar
| Mo'at
|
|-
| 2010
| My Girlfriend's Back
| Constance
|
|-
| 2012
| Home Again
| Dulsay Mooreland
|
|-
| 2013
| The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
| Madame Dorothea
|
|-
| 2014
| Batman: Assault on Arkham
| Amanda Waller (voice)
|
| Episode: "Crescent City"
|-
| Beware the Batman
| Mayor Marion Grange
| Voice, 2 episodes
|-
|2015
|Skylanders: SuperChargers
|Uncredited
|-
| 2016
| Skylanders: Imaginators
|
|}
Stage appearances
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Venue
!Notes
! class="unsortable" | Ref.
|-
| rowspan="4" |1975
|Androcles and the Lion
|The Lion
| rowspan="4" |Cumston Hall, Monmouth
| rowspan="2" |Understudy
|
|-
|King Lear
|Goneril
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1979
|Coriolanus
|Valeria
| rowspan="2" |Delacorte Theater, New York
| rowspan="2" |Shakespeare in the Park
|
|-
| 1984 || Open Admissions || Mrs. Brewster || Music Box Theatre, New York
| ||
|-
|1987
|Antony and Cleopatra
|Charmian
|Los Angeles Theatre Center, Los Angeles
|
|
|-
|Nonfiction, Abridged
|-
|rowspan="2"|2002
|Black Reel Award
|Best Supporting Actress in a Television Movie
|Boycott
|
|-
|NAACP Image Award
|Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
|Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|2003
|Satellite Award
|Best Actress – Television Series Drama
|rowspan="3"|The Shield
|
|-
|NAACP Image Award
|Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|2004
|Satellite Award
|Best Actress – Television Series Drama
|
|-
|Black Reel Award
|Best Supporting Actress in a Television Movie
|Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story
|
|-
|2004
|NAACP Image Award
|Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
|rowspan="6"|The Shield
|
|-
|2005
|Primetime Emmy Award
|Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
|
|-
|2006
|rowspan="4"|NAACP Image Award
|rowspan="4"|Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
|
|-
|2007
|
|-
|2008
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|2009
|
|-
|Primetime Emmy Award
|Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
|The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
|
|-
|rowspan=3|2010
|NAACP Image Award
|Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
|Brothers
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|Audie Awards
||Audiobook of the Year
|rowspan=2|Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales
|rowspan=2
|rowspan=2|
|-
| Multi-Voiced Performance
|-
|2017
|rowspan="2"|NAACP Image Award
|rowspan="2"|Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
|rowspan="2"|NCIS: New Orleans
|
|-
|2019
|
|}