Rhoda Griffis

Born in Raleigh, NC, Griffis always knew she would be an actress. Her passion for performing led her to North Carolina School of the Arts, where she studied drama and acted in local productions. After graduating from the school with a BFA, Griffis appeared on the primetime "In the Heat of the Night" and quickly landed the pivotal role in "Love Field" as Michelle Pfeiffer's unlikely object of obsession. Her brief turn as Ty Cobb's emotionally estranged mother was followed by nearly a decade of steady supporting work in TV series and made-for-TV movies such as "The Madam's Family: The Truth about the Canal Street Brothel" (CBS, 2004). It wasn't always the most glamorous of projects, but her ongoing theater work in repertory companies around the country balanced things out. In 2005 Griffis landed a big-screen role as a beleaguered five-and-dime manager in "Walk the Line," which she followed up with a performance as a distraught mother in the football drama "We are Marshall." Two years later she landed a rare recurring role as Lenore Baker, the vindictive wife of an Army general, on the first and second seasons of the popular "Army Wives," and shared a scene with Sandra Bullock in the wildly successful "The Blind Side." Since being cast in the reincarnation sitcom "Drop Dead Diva," Griffis has appeared as Barbra Streisand's cranky violin teacher in "Parental Guidance" (2012) and been cast alongside Harrison Ford and TR Knight in 2013's "42," about Jackie Robinson's landmark signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers.