Yvette Freeman
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Although she first established herself as a singer-actress on stage in such shows as "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "The Wiz," Yvette Freeman has become better known to millions of TV viewers for pulling double duty on two NBC series. On the award-winning medical drama "ER," she has appeared in the recurring role of nurse Haleh Adams since its inception. From fall 1997 to spring 1999, Freeman has simultaneously played the persnickety office manager Evelyn Smalley in the sitcom "Working." She particularly cherished the latter role as she based the character on a former boss who "watched everyone like a hawk, and even counted paper clips."
Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Delaware, the petite, zaftig Freeman originally intended to study medicine but switched to art and theater in college. After graduation, she broke into theater in the Broadway and touring companies of the Fats Waller musical revue "Ain't Misbehavin'" in the late 1970s and spent the next decade alternating between appearing on stage in shows like "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" and "Nunsense" and working odd jobs as a typist and substitute teacher.
Relocating to Los Angeles in the early 1990s, Freeman began to find work in small roles in films like "Switch" and "Dead Again" (both 1991) and as a guest on TV series ranging from sitcoms (e.g., "Doctor, Doctor" and "Down the Shore") to dramatic fare (i.e., "True Blue," "Life Goes On") as well as an occasional TV-movie like HBO's "Norma Jean and Marilyn" (1996). Since achieving small screen success in her dual roles, she returned to her stage roots portraying singer Dinah Washington in several productions of the biographical stage musical "Dinah Was."
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Director (Special)
Cast (Special)
Writer (Special)
Special Thanks (Special)
Life Events
1990
Early TV credit, a recurring role in two episodes of the NBC crime drama "True Blue"
1991
Film debut in small role as a maid in "Switch"
1992
TV-movie debut in "Just My Imagination" (NBC)
1994
Played recurring role of nurse Haleh Adams on the hit NBC series "ER"
1995
Originated role of singer Dinah Washington in "Dinah Was" at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts
1997
Played the no-nonsense office manager Evelyn Smalley in the NBC sitcom "Working"
1997
Starred in L.A. production of "Dinah Was"
1998
Reprised her stage role in the Off-Broadway production of "Dinah Was"
Family
Companions
