Jo Marie Payton

Acting

Jo Marie Payton

Born

1950-08-03 (76)

Place of birth

Albany, Georgia, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

46 titles

Jo Marie Payton is an American actress and singer who starred as Harriette Baines–Winslow, the matriarch of the Winslow family on the ABC/CBS sitcom Family Matters (1989–1998), a role she originated on its forerunner series Perfect Strangers. From 2001 to 2005, Payton provided the voice for Suga Mama Proud (Penny Proud's grandmother) on Disney Channel's animated series The Proud Family and Disney+’s upcoming revival The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder. The role earned her an NAACP Image Award nomination in 2005. Payton also had a recurring role as the personal assistant to Gregory Hines' character, Ben Doucette (Will Truman's boss), during season two of Will & Grace (1999–2000).

Known for

Desperate Housewives poster
7.9

Looking down on her friends and family isn't a way of life for Mary Alice Young... it's a way of death. One day, in her perfect house, in the loveliest of suburbs, Mary Alice ended it all. Now she's taking us into the lives of her family, friends and neighbors, commenting from her elevated P.O.V.

Desperate Housewives

2004

Sherri poster
2.6

Sherri Shepherd, actress, comic, and Emmy Award-winning longtime co-host of "The View", appears before a live audience with a daily dose of pop culture, comedy, conversations, and daytime talk staples, including celebrity and human interest interviews.

Sherri

2022

INVINCIBLE poster
8.6

Mark Grayson is a normal teenager except for the fact that his father is the most powerful superhero on the planet. Shortly after his seventeenth birthday, Mark begins to develop powers of his own and enters into his father's tutelage.

INVINCIBLE

2021

Will & Grace poster
6.9

Will Truman and Grace Adler are best friends living in New York, and when Grace's engagement falls apart, she moves in with Will. Together, along with their friends, they go through the trials of dating, sex, relationships and their careers, butting heads at times but ultimately supporting one another while exchanging plenty of witty banter along the way.

Will & Grace

1998

Judging Amy poster
7.5

Judging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly. Its main character is a judge who serves in a family court, and in addition to the family-related cases that she adjudicates, many episodes of the show focus on her own experiences as a divorced mother, and on the experiences of her mother, a social worker who works in the field of child welfare. This series was based on the life experiences of Brenneman's mother.

Judging Amy

1999

Family Matters poster
6.8

A long-running dramedy centering on the Winslow family, a middle-class African American family living in Chicago, and their pesky next-door neighbor, ultra-nerd Steve Urkel. A spin-off of Perfect Strangers.

Family Matters

1989

Film credits

2020s · 5 titles

A Proud Family Wizmas poster
NR

When Penny Proud’s rant about Wizmas and the commercialization of Christmas causes Santa to quit on Christmas eve, Penny finds herself guilted into putting on the red suit and replacing him. And in the process of delivering Yuletide cheer with the help of Santa’s irreverent elves, she discovers that indeed the Christmas spirit is still alive.

A Proud Family Wizmas

2026

Momma Said Come Home for Christmas poster
NR

The matriarch of a family calls all her children home for Christmas, but this will be a vacation full of surprises as lovers bond and family members collide.

Momma Said Come Home for Christmas

2023

Conundrum: Secrets Among Friends poster
1.0

A story about longtime friends whom have known one another since college. All of whom have been doing well since, with careers in the entertainment industry, on wall street, legal and even in the NFL. When the group decides to take a weekend getaway, to a rented beach house in the Hamptons, all hell breaks loose when secrets among them, come to light.

Conundrum: Secrets Among Friends

2023

A Very Charming Christmas Town poster
5.7

Aubrey Lang, a travel and lifestyle blogger, goes to the little town of Solvang for her next holiday vlog piece after it’s voted Most Christmassy Town in the USA. She soon meets Sawyer Larsen, a local community coordinator and chocolate shop owner assigned to show her around the small town. At first, the unlikely pairing is at odds but soon start to fall for each other amidst the twinkling lights of the romantic little Danish village.

A Very Charming Christmas Town

2020

A Family Matters Christmas poster
5.6

Christmas is anything but ordinary when three bickering siblings from a newly blended household cannot see eye to eye. The youngest one, while completing his annual science project, accidentally calls upon the spirit of Christmas. They wake up to find themselves having switched bodies, unable to change back until they learn to spend the holidays together as a loving family.

A Family Matters Christmas

2022

2010s · 7 titles

The Beach Bum poster
5.7

An irreverent comedy about the misadventures of Moondog, a rebellious stoner and lovable rogue who lives large.

The Beach Bum

2019

The Little Mermaid poster
5.0

A young reporter and his niece discover a beautiful and enchanting creature they believe to be the real little mermaid.

The Little Mermaid

2018

Christmas Made to Order poster
6.1

When architect and Christmas amateur Steven finds himself hosting his family for Christmas, he recruits holiday coordinator Gretchen to bring holiday joy to his home. Gretchen’s expert Christmas spirit brings Steven’s family together, but neither expected it to bring them closer to each other. After a great opportunity presents itself to Gretchen, she and Steven must decide what’s really important in life.

Christmas Made to Order

2018

The Flight Before Christmas poster
5.4

Two strangers who both happen to be in marketing, share a room at a bed-and-breakfast when a snowstorm strands their flight in Montana on Christmas Eve.

The Flight Before Christmas

2015

From This Day Forward poster
10.0

Patrice and Corrine are two sexy, confident women with great relationships, but they've got it all wrong when it comes to love. Before they drive their men crazy, they've got some tough lessons to learn about trust and fidelity, if they hope to make love last.

From This Day Forward

2012

A Student's Obsession poster
5.0

High school teacher Stephanie breaks the cardinal rule of not getting romantically involved with one of her students. To make things worse, her handsome teenage lover James starts to demonstrate psychotic, obsessive behavior. When James starts stalking Stephanie and her family, Stephanie is forced to teach James the ultimate dangerous lesson.

A Student's Obsession

2015

Jerico poster
NR

The story of best friends who set out on a dangerous, but comedic journey that challenges the restrictions of a Jim Crow South to fulfill their dreams.

Jerico

2016

1980s · 5 titles

Series credits

Desperate Housewives poster
7.9

Looking down on her friends and family isn't a way of life for Mary Alice Young... it's a way of death. One day, in her perfect house, in the loveliest of suburbs, Mary Alice ended it all. Now she's taking us into the lives of her family, friends and neighbors, commenting from her elevated P.O.V.

Desperate Housewives

2004

Sherri poster
2.6

Sherri Shepherd, actress, comic, and Emmy Award-winning longtime co-host of "The View", appears before a live audience with a daily dose of pop culture, comedy, conversations, and daytime talk staples, including celebrity and human interest interviews.

Sherri

2022

INVINCIBLE poster
8.6

Mark Grayson is a normal teenager except for the fact that his father is the most powerful superhero on the planet. Shortly after his seventeenth birthday, Mark begins to develop powers of his own and enters into his father's tutelage.

INVINCIBLE

2021

Will & Grace poster
6.9

Will Truman and Grace Adler are best friends living in New York, and when Grace's engagement falls apart, she moves in with Will. Together, along with their friends, they go through the trials of dating, sex, relationships and their careers, butting heads at times but ultimately supporting one another while exchanging plenty of witty banter along the way.

Will & Grace

1998

Judging Amy poster
7.5

Judging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly. Its main character is a judge who serves in a family court, and in addition to the family-related cases that she adjudicates, many episodes of the show focus on her own experiences as a divorced mother, and on the experiences of her mother, a social worker who works in the field of child welfare. This series was based on the life experiences of Brenneman's mother.

Judging Amy

1999

Family Matters poster
6.8

A long-running dramedy centering on the Winslow family, a middle-class African American family living in Chicago, and their pesky next-door neighbor, ultra-nerd Steve Urkel. A spin-off of Perfect Strangers.

Family Matters

1989

Girlfriends poster
7.3

A friend group of black women face life's tests and triumphs together. From dating to divorce, and friends to family to relationships, Joan, Maya, Lynn and Toni support each other despite their differing backgrounds.

Girlfriends

2000

7th Heaven poster
6.4

Reverend Eric Camden and his wife Annie have always had their hands full caring for seven children, not to mention the friends, sweethearts and spouses that continually come and go in the Camden household.

7th Heaven

1996

Lilo & Stitch: The Series poster
7.4

This animated series chronicles the further adventures of renegade scientist Dr. Jumba Jookiba's beloved Experiment 626, who is now living happily as Lilo's alien buddy Stitch. Jumba’s remaining experiments have landed all over Hawaii in the form of dehydrated pods. Lilo and Stitch’s mission is to catch Stitch’s "cousins" before they fall into the clutches of the evil Dr. Jacques von Hamsterviel!

Lilo & Stitch: The Series

2003

Moesha poster
6.9

The everyday life of Moesha Mitchell, a vivacious young woman juggling romance, school, ever-changing family dynamics, and friendships.

Moesha

1996

Moesha poster
6.9

The everyday life of Moesha Mitchell, a vivacious young woman juggling romance, school, ever-changing family dynamics, and friendships.

Moesha

1996

The Jamie Foxx Show poster
6.7

Texas native Jamie King is an aspiring actor who heads to Hollywood in hopes to find fame and fortune in the entertainment industry. To support himself, he works at his Aunt Helen and Uncle Junior's Los Angeles hotel, the King's Towers.

The Jamie Foxx Show

1996

Reba poster
6.6

After her dentist husband of 20 years leaves her for his dental hygienist, Reba Hart's seemingly perfect world is turned upside down.​

Reba

2001

The Proud Family poster
7.7

Follow the adventures and misadventures of Penny, a 14-year-old African American girl who's doing her best to navigate through the early years of teen-dom. Penny's every encounter inevitably spirals into bigger than life situations filled with hi-jinks, hilarity and heart. Her quest to balance her home, school and social lives are further complicated by friends like the sassy Dijonay, Penny's nemesis LaCienega Boulevardez, her loving, if not over-protective parents and her hip-to-the-groove-granny, Suga Mama.

The Proud Family

2001

The Hughleys poster
6.8

The Hughleys is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 22, 1998 to April 28, 2000 and on the UPN network from September 11, 2000 to May 20, 2002. It starred comedian D. L. Hughley as the main character, Darryl Hughley, and Elise Neal as Yvonne, his hard-working wife, who move their family from the inner city to suburban Los Angeles.

The Hughleys

1998

The Parkers poster
8.0

Spunky daughter Kim is mortified when her bigger-than-life mom, Nikki, decides to go back to school at the same junior college she attends.

The Parkers

1999

The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder poster
5.1

Follow the adventures and misadventures of newly 14-year-old Penny Proud and her family as they navigate modern life with hilarity and heart. The 2020s bring a new career for mom Trudy, wilder dreams for dad Oscar and new challenges for Penny, including a socially woke neighbor who thinks she has a lot to teach her.

The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder

2022

Silver Spoons poster
6.3

Wealthy, young-at-heart business owner Edward Stratton III is stunned to discover his brief marriage several years ago produced a son, Richard Bluedhorn-Stratton, now 12 and standing in Edward's living room, wanting to live with the father he never knew. Although Edward's first impulse is to send Ricky to boarding school, he soon relents and let his son move in with him and Kate, his love-struck secretary.

Silver Spoons

1982

Perfect Strangers poster
6.7

The chronicles of the rocky coexistence of midwestern American Larry Appleton and his distant cousin from eastern Mediterranean Europe, Balki Bartokomous.

Perfect Strangers

1986

227 poster
6.9

A housewife sits on the stoop of her apartment building in a black neighborhood of Washington, D.C., and discusses all manner of things with her neighbors.

227

1985

Chibiverse poster
6.4

Join your fan-favorite Disney Branded Television characters as they host a showcase to celebrate their wild Chibi Tiny Tales adventures, including Phineas and Ferb, Cricket Green, Anne Boonchuy, Molly McGee, Penny Proud and more.

Chibiverse

2022

Teachers Only poster
6.0

Teachers Only is an NBC television sitcom centered around the faculty of a high school; in the first season the school was Millard Fillmore High in Los Angeles, but in the second it is Woodrow Wilson High in New York with a changed cast. In both seasons Norman Fell played Principal Ben Cooper, but Lynn Redgrave's character, Diana Swanson, who had been an English teacher in the first season, became a guidance counselor in the second season. Redgrave and Fell were already established names when this show aired, but two of the supporting stars in the second season, Jean Smart would go on, three years later, to play her best known role, that of interior design studio receptionist Charlene Frazier Stillfield on the long running show, Designing Women. Also, Jean's co-star Teresa Ganzel became well known for her many game show appearances in the 1980s as well as her appearance in the comedic miniseries, Fresno. This show ran for only two seasons, in 1982 and 1983.

Teachers Only

1982

Miss Governor poster
4.0

As she tries to shine in politics, Mississippi's first Black lieutenant governor must manage her zany family and overcome a boss who's stuck in the past.

Miss Governor

2025

The New Odd Couple poster
5.8

The New Odd Couple is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from 1982–1983, and was an updated version of the 1970s television series The Odd Couple. The New Odd Couple was the second attempt to remake a series of one of Neil Simon's plays with a primarily African-American cast. The first was Barefoot in the Park.

The New Odd Couple

1982

Wanda at Large poster
6.2

Wanda at Large is an American sitcom that ran for two seasons on the Fox network in 2003. The series was created by and stars comedian Wanda Sykes.

Wanda at Large

2003

The Big House poster
7.0

The Big House is an American prime time television sitcom starring actor/comedian Kevin Hart. It ran on the ABC television network in April 2004, lasting for only six episodes. The series represents a mirror-opposite of the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Kevin Hart is a wealthy, pampered student from Malibu. After his father is arrested and imprisoned for embezzlement, Kevin moves to Philadelphia to live with his working-class aunt, uncle and cousins, and enrolls in Drexel University.

The Big House

2004