‘Normal Hospital’s Epiphany Johnson Dies At Age 55
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Sonya Eddy “handed away final night time,” Octavia Spencer posted on Instagram on Tuesday (Dec. 20) whereas sharing a photograph of the 55-year-old Normal Hospital actress (h/t TMZ). “The world misplaced one other inventive angel. Her legions of @generalhospitalabc followers will miss her. My ideas and prayers are along with her family members, associates, and followers!” Octavia didn’t clarify what led to Sonya’s demise, and followers crammed the feedback part with messages of grief and sorrow. HollywoodLife has reached out to Ms. Eddy’s rep for data.
For over 540 episodes, Sonya portrayed nurse Epiphany Johnson on Normal Hospital, starting her run in 2006 and ending along with her obvious demise. Along with her time on GH, Eddy appeared in These Who Can’t, Recent Off The Boat, and the 2013 sequence, Legit. Her IMDB profile is wealthy with roles in every part from The Center to Lady Meets World to her early roles in Excessive Faculty Excessive, Seinfeld, House Enchancment, and Blast From The Previous.
“I used to be a psychology pupil at UC Davis,” Sonya stated in an interview with Charlene Bazarian, revealed on The Superior / Stone chilly and the Jackal. “I spent numerous time within the inexperienced room within the theatre division observing individuals. I discovered these people, who appeared to simply simply turn into another person, fascinating from a psychological viewpoint. I took a Historical past of Black Theatre course, and it concerned an oral presentation. My professor pulled me apart and advised me that, with a voice like mine, I ought to be on stage. I laughed it off, as I’m a really shy individual. Like everybody in my household, I beloved to sing in my church choir, however that was the extent of any curiosity I had in placing myself on the market, so to talk.”
Sonya acted in some faculty initiatives, however her curiosity was nonetheless a bit tepid. “It wasn’t till Ruby Dee was a particular visitor on the college, and I used to be one of many few college students invited for a luncheon along with her, that the thought of turning into an actress began to take form for me,” continued Eddy. The multi-hyphenate, who originated the position of Ruth Youthful in A Elevating In The Solar, gave Sonya the recommendation that will change her life. “She merely stated, ‘I perceive why you’d have a hesitation about turning into an actress, however not lots of people can do what you are able to do. Don’t give it some thought, simply do it.’ When somebody like Ruby Dee speaks to you want that, you pay attention.”
Sonya landed the half on Normal Hospital due to an anti-smoking PSA she did. “Jill Farren Phelps, an government producer on Normal Hospital at the moment, had seen it and confirmed it to Bob Guza, who was the top author then. Gray’s Anatomy was a giant hit on tv, and so they had needed to mannequin the character of Epiphany Johnson after Chandra Wilson’s character. My agent stated I booked the half on Normal Hospital with out even having auditioned. It was imagined to be a one-day reserving, which was two weeks, which ultimately led to my being placed on contract.”
My guiding beacon in life is, ‘There go I earlier than the grace of God,’” she added within the interview. “I attempt to put myself in different individuals’s place earlier than I snap, crackle, and pop, so to talk. I additionally grew up in a household that taught every of us that our phrase was our bond. Every time I come to a problem or a crossroad in life, I’ve discovered that these two ideas carry me by way of.”
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