Career
She also voiced the character of Sarabi, Mufasa"s mate and Simba"s mother, in the animated feature film The Lion King. Born Madge Dorita Walters in Kingston, Jamaica, to Herbert and Jemima Walters. She was a teacher in Jamaica until 1968 when she left for New York to pursue her career in acting.
Also in 1978 she co-starred in the short-lived sitcom Grandpa Goes to Washington.
Sinclair went on to a long-running stint in the 1980s as nurse Ernestine Shoop on the series Trapper John, Doctor of Medicine opposite Pernell Roberts. She received three Emmy nominations for her work on the show, and critic Donald Bogle praised her for "maintaining her composure and assurance no matter what the script imposed on her".
Later, both Sinclair and Jones would reunite as Queen and King for the roles of Sarabi, Simba’s mother, and Mufasa, Simba’s father, in the blockbuster Disney animated film The Lion King (1994), respectively. The film became one of the best-selling titles ever on home video.
Law"s Diana Muldaur. Sinclair played the role of Lally in the 1991 Channel 4 television miniseries The Orchid House (based on Phyllis Shand Allfrey"s novel of the same name), directed by Horace Ové, and also received critical praise for her supporting role in the 1992 television movie Jonathan: The Boy Nobody Wanted with JoBeth Williams.
In 1993 Sinclair came to London to appear on stage at the Cochrane Theatre in The Lion, by Michael Abbensetts, directed by Horace Ové for the Talawa Theatre Company. In 1994, she played a supporting role in the short-lived American Broadcasting Company-television sitcom Maine and the Boys, which starred Steve Harvey. Sinclair, in her brief role as the captain of the United States Ship Saratoga in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, is commonly cited as the first female starship captain to appear in Star Trek, though Joanne Linville had appeared as a Romulan commander 18 year earlier.
Years later, Sinclair played Geordi Louisiana Forge"s mother, captain of the United States Ship Hera, in Star Trek: The Next Generation"s "Interface".
Her final acting role was on the sitcom Dream On just one month later before her death. Sinclair was married to Royston Sinclair, a police officer, and had two sons, Garry Sinclair and Wayne Sinclair.
In 1982, she was remarried to actor Dean Compton. She died of leukemia in 1995.
She was cremated and her ashes were scattered in her hometown in Jamaica.