show Family Matters. Elder has frequently returned to the stage and last appeared at Arkansas Rep as Rose in August Wilson's Fences. She also has many theatre directorial credits including: The Book of the Crazy African (Skylight Theatre), The Meeting (Inner City Cultural Center, LA and New Federal Theatre, NY), Ceremonies in Dark Old Men (Beverly Canon Theatre), and A Private Act (Robey Theatre Company). Her direction of Matthew Lopez' The Whipping Man starring Charlie Robinson at the Skirball Cultural Center for LA Theatre Works radio series was broadcast nationally in 2016. Elder is an alumna of the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women where she produced and directed the short film, Behind God's Back, based on an Alice Walker short story and starring Beau Bridges. She is also the recipient of a Screenwriting Fellowship with Walt Disney Studios. In 2005, Elder was honored with an NAACP Trailblazer Award. Elder is also a 2010 recipient of a Distinguished Alumni Award from Emerson College. Personal life Elder has been married twice. Her first marriage to actor and playwright Lonne Elder III, with whom she had two children, including actor Christian E. Elder, was from 1969 to 1994. Elder has been married to her second husband, actor John Cothran Jr. since 1997. She is a breast cancer survivor and former legislative ambassador for the American Cancer Society. Elder resides in Los Angeles, California. Filmography Film As director 1989: Behind God's Back – Short film (also narrator) 2013: A Private Act – Short film (also screenplay) Television References External links Judyann Elder at the Lortel Archives – The Internet Off-Broadway Database American theatre directors Women theatre directors Living people Actresses from Cleveland Emerson College alumni African-American actresses American television actresses American film actresses American stage actresses 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women Year of birth missing (living people)