Born on December 25, 1952 in Georgetown, Guyana, Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder is a three-time Emmy-nominated actress best known for a string of roles in films, television, and plays. Born in Guyana, a former British colony and located at the northern tip of the South American continent, Pounder is the daughter of Betsy Enid Arnella and Ronald Pounder. After getting her education in Britain, she moved to the US in 1970. Today, she is married to anthropologist Boubacar Kone from Senegal. She used to own a jewelry show but now only sells through special requests.
CCH Pounder made her acting debut in All That Jazz, a 1979 film. This was immediately followed by a string of successful films, most notable of which is Bagdad Caf?, where she played a role played by Whoopi Goldberg in a short-lived television sitcom. After her career in the movies, she started focusing on television during the early 1980s. She bagged guest roles on Hill Street Blues, and eventually the really popular ones such as Miami Vice, The X-Files, Quantum Leap, LA Law, and Living Single. In 1994, Pounder landed a recurring role for around three years as Dr. Angela Hicks on the medical drama ER. This was followed by more roles on more shows, such as The Practice, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Millennium, and The West Wing.
In 2002, Pounder has appeared in the FX police drama The Shield, a performance which earned her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 2005. Previously, she had been nominated for an Emmy, but these are for guest appearances, such as on ER in 1997 and The X-Files in 1995.
Pounder is also a prolific voice actor, lending her voice to several video games and animated projects, such as Aladdin and the King of Thieves, True Crime: Streets of LA, Gargoyles, and Justice League Unlimited.