Among the cast members for the upcoming soap opera Beyond the Gates is Tamara Tunie, who plays Anita Dupree. The character is described as having previously been a famous singer and is the matriarch of the Dupree family.
Tunie is no stranger to soap operas, having been on the defunct show As the World Turns from 1987 to 2009 and appearing in over 1,300 episodes. She’s most famous for portraying the wildly popular Medical Examiner Dr. Melinda Warner on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
She’s had a busy career
Tunie has worked hard over the years, as exemplified by the fact that at one point in her career, she was simultaneously working on several television shows: Law & Order: SVU, As the World Turns, and 24. Her character Melinda from SVU has crossed over to other shows within the Law & Order shared universe and crossed into the L&O adjacent One Chicago universe, appearing in Chicago Fire.
Deadline described Tunie’s Beyond the Gates character as someone who “Worked hard for her success, and raised two daughters with her now-retired senator husband. But underneath her glamorous and refined exterior is a fierceness she gained from her humble beginnings in Chicago.” The Duprees are one of the prominent families in the show, and Tunie’s Anita is one of the main characters.
In 2022, Tunie took to Instagram to make a fabulous announcement. She shared a picture of venerable singer Lena Horne and wrote, “✨BREAKING NEWS ✨Courtesy of @nydailynews :: Lena Horne will make Black history again on Broadway this fall. The trailblazing stage, screen and music star will become the first Black woman to have a Broadway theater named for her when the Nederlander Organization officially renames the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Nov. 1.”
Lena Horne, of course, is a world-famous singer and actress. Being among the first Black performers to have signed with a notable Hollywood studio, she was so popular that she guest-starred on the hit 1970s TV sitcom Sanford and Son. Tunie’s first Broadway performance was with Horne in Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music.
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According to IMDb, Tunie’s family lived above a funeral home where her parents worked as morticians in Pennsylvania, which is ironic considering her most famous character is a medical examiner. Tunie has also appeared in several films, including Wall Street (1987), Snake Eyes (1998), and 2020’s Flight with Denzel Washington, among many others.
We look forward to Tunie bringing her vast experience to the new soap when Beyond the Gates premieres in February, 2025.
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