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Queen Latifah’s ‘On-Screen Girlfriend’ In “Set It Off” Has A Legendary ’70s Actress Mom

ilosm — Fri, 27 May 2022 01:21:02 +0000

“Cleo” (Queen Latifah) and the ‘muted girlfriend’ in “Set It Off” film

None of us knew this actress’ name, but anyone who has seen Set It Off remembers her face. Her name is Samantha and she played the role of “Cleo’s” (Queen Latifah) mute girlfriend, “Ursula,” in the ’96 film. All she did was kiss Queen Latifah and never talked. Remember how Queen Latifah had everyone talking when her “Eve” look-alike girlfriend was giving her a sexy lap dance/tease after “Cleo” and her girls robbed the bank? “Cleo” had tricked out her car and bought “Ursula” some new lingerie and after their convincing romance, the questions started circulating about Latifah’s sexuality and the “Ursula” actress’ whereabouts (since no one had pretty much seen her since).

After watching Set It Off again recently for what seems like my 100th time (okay, not really 100 times…but the number’s high up there), we decided to do a lil’ bit of research on Samantha. What we found out was that all these years have gone by and we never knew that this well known actress from the ‘60s, ‘70s and beyond, is her mother. If you’ve watched you’re an avid Good Times or Star Trek fan, you probably remember her mother’s roles well.

Who’s The ‘Muted Girlfriend’s’ Mother In Real Life?

Janet MacLachlan

The “Set It Off” mute’s mother is none other than Janet MacLachlan. Remember her? She was the actress who appeared on the “Florida Gets a Job” episode of Good Times when Gary Coleman snatched her wig off of her head and she yelled, “Oh! I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life?!!” That scene was CLASSIC and who would have ever thought that her lil’ girl would end up being “Cleo’s” girlfriend some twenty plus years later?!!

Check out Janet’s and Gary Coleman’s infamous Good Times scene below…

You may also remember Janet from her more popular roles in and episode of Star Trek as “Lt. Charlene Masters,” where she was one of the first African American actresses to appear on that series at that time. She was also one of the first Black actresses to rock an afro on a TV show in the ‘60s.

Janet also starred in several other roles, such as an episode of the series, I Spy, where she appeared alongside Bill Cosby as one of the prettiest double agents we’d ever seen. She was on the Alfred Hitchcock Hour show, Barney Miller, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Monkey’s Paw, The Invaders, The FBI, Ironside, The Mod Squad, The Name of the Game, The Sounder, Murphy’s Law, the Boy Who Could Fly, and several other films and TV shows throughout her 50+ year career.

Janet MacLachlan in “Barney Miller”

Samantha MacLachlan is Janet’s only daughter and there was not been any mention of who her father is.

Sadly, Janet passed away at the age of 77 in 2010 from complications due to a cardiovascular disease. She was living in Los Angeles at the time of her death.

Samantha MacLachlan, the actress who played “Cleo’s” (Queen Latifah) girlfriend, “Ursula,” in “Set It Off”

As far as Samantha, she is now 50 years old and we’re not sure what she’s up to nowadays. After starring in a few more projects such as television series Once and Again, NYPD Blue, JAG, the films, Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story (1996) and Tear It Down (1997) and of course Set It Off, she pretty much retreated from the spotlight and lives a quiet non-celebrity type of life. But she’ll never be able to hide the fact that she was the woman who played the lesbian mute girlfriend of Queen Latifah in Set It Off, nor should she want to – her role added a great dynamic to that ‘90s cult classic. It’s understandable why she was so convincing with her Ursula role now, acting is in her blood and her beloved mother, Janet MacLachlan, did an excellent job passing the torch to her daughter.

-ILoveOldSchoolMusic, old school news with a new point of view

The post Queen Latifah’s ‘On-Screen Girlfriend’ In “Set It Off” Has A Legendary ’70s Actress Mom appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Queen Latifah’s ‘Girlfriend’ In “Set It Off” Has A Legendary ’70s Actress Mother

ilosm — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 22:33:39 +0000

“Cleo” (Queen Latifah) and the ‘muted girlfriend’ in “Set It Off” film

After watching Set It Off again last night for what seems like my 100th time (not really 100, but I’ve seen it a lot), we decided to do a lil’ bit of research on Samantha. What we found out was that all these years have gone by and we never knew that this well known actress from the 60’s, 70’s and beyond, is her mother. If you’ve watched you’re an avid Good Times or Star Trek fan, you probably remember her mother’s roles well.

Who’s The ‘Muted Girlfriend’s’ Mother In Real Life?

Janet MacLachlan

Check out Janet’s and Gary Coleman’s infamous Good Times scene below…

Janet Maclachlan in “Star Trek”

Janet MacLachlan in “Barney Miller”

Samantha MacLachlan is Janet’s only daughter and there was not been any mention of who her father is.

Sadly, Janet passed away at the age of 77 in 2010 from complications due to a cardiovascular disease. She was living in Los Angeles at the time of her death.

Samantha MacLachlan, the actress who played “Cleo’s” (Queen Latifah) girlfriend, “Ursula,” in “Set It Off”

As far as Samantha, she is now 50 years old and we’re not sure what she’s up to nowadays. After starring in a few more projects such as television series Once and Again, NYPD Blue, JAG, the films, Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story (1996) and Tear It Down (1997) and of course Set It Off, she pretty much retreated from the spotlight and lives a quiet non-celebrity type of life. But she’ll never be able to hide the fact that she was the woman who played the lesbian mute girlfriend of Queen Latifah in Set It Off, nor should she want to – her role added a great dynamic to that 90’s cult classic. It’s understandable why she was so convincing with her Ursula role now, acting is in her blood and her beloved mother, Janet MacLachlan, did an excellent job passing the torch to her daughter.

-ILoveOldSchoolMusic, old school news with a new point of view

The post Queen Latifah’s ‘Girlfriend’ In “Set It Off” Has A Legendary ’70s Actress Mother appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Latifah’s ‘Girlfriend’ In “Set It Off” Is Still Gorgeous & Her Mom’s A Famous Actress

I Love Old School Music — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 19:24:36 +0000

“Cleo” And Her Girl

All she did was kiss Queen Latifah and never talked. Remember how Queen Latifah had everyone talking when her “Eve” look-alike girlfriend was giving her a sexy lap dance/tease, after “Cleo” and her girls robbed the bank? “Cleo” had tricked out her car and bought “Ursula” some new lingerie and after their convincing romance, the questions started circulating about Latifah’s sexuality and the “Ursula” actress’ whereabouts (since no one had pretty much seen her since).

After watching Set It Off again the other night, for what seems like my 100th time (not really 100, but I’ve seen it a lot), I decided to do a lil’ bit of research on Samantha.

Her Mom Was 1st Black Actresses To Rock An Afro On A TV Show!

What we found out was that all these years have gone by and we never knew that this well known actress from the 60’s, 70’s and beyond, is her mother. If you’re an avid Good Times or Star Trek fan, you probably remember her mother’s roles well.

Actress, Janet MacLaclan, mother of “Set It Off” actress, SamanthaMacLachlan (screengrab)

You probably also remember Janet MacLachlan from her more popular roles in and episode of Star Trek as “Lt. Charlene Masters,” where she was one of the first African American actresses to appear on that series at that time. She was also one of the first Black actresses to rock an afro on a TV show in the 60’s.

Sadly, Janet passed away at the age of 77 in 2010 from complications due to a cardiovascular disease. She was living in Los Angeles at the time of her death.

Where Is Samantha Now?

SamanthaMacLachlan (photo: Caitlainne Gurreri; via Instagram)

Samantha MacLachlan is Janet’s only daughter and there was not been any mention of who her father is. As far as Samantha, she is now 48 years old and we’re not sure what she’s up to nowadays.

After starring in a few more projects such as television series Once and Again, NYPD Blue, JAG, the films, Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story (1996) and Tear It Down (1997) and of course Set It Off, she pretty much retreated from the spotlight and lives a quiet non-celebrity type of life.

Samantha MacLachlan (photo: Caitlainne Gurreri; via IMBD)

The post Latifah’s ‘Girlfriend’ In “Set It Off” Is Still Gorgeous & Her Mom’s A Famous Actress appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Latifah Tells Why It Was Tough For Her To Play Lesbian “Cleo” In ‘Set It Off’

ilosm — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 23:24:03 +0000

Embed from Getty Images

Most of us remember when rapper/actress, Queen Latifah, played the hell outta her “Cleo” character in Set It Off. The way her lesbian character busted her guns during the bank robberies and kissed her mute girlfriend, was one of the most convincing roles in movie history. In fact, it was almost a lil’ too convincing and kicked off what would become a never-ending rumor mill of real-life lesbian allegations for Queen.

Although Latifah has never confirmed nor denied the homosexual rumors (nor the many affectionate photos of herself arm-in-arm in public with females), many would argue that Latifah confirming she’s a lesbian would be about as “shocking” as Kim Kardashian ‘confirming’ she only likes Black dudes with money- an allegation Kim’s never denied nor confirmed either. But I digress…

Point is! Queen Latifah had a problem playing her “Cleo” role, and here’s what she revealed about that in her recent interview.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkleZcthqW2/

Although many of us enjoyed watching Latifah kill it with her Cleo role (even the way Latifah “died” as “Cleo” was profound), what we didn’t know at that time, was that it was the toughest role for her to portray, according to what Latifah recently revealed to actress, Tracy Ellis Ross (daughter of Diana Ross), who interviewed her for In Style magazine:

TER: Were there any career decisions that were particularly hard to make?

Queen Latifah: When I got the role of amateur bank robber Cleo Sims in Set It Off, I sat down with my younger siblings and told them, “Listen, I’m playing a gay character. Your classmates might tease you or say negative things about it. But I’m doing it because I believe I can bring positive attention to the gay African-American community, and I believe that I can do a great job as an actor.” They understood, and when those things inevitably happened in school, they were OK with it.

So as you can see, the role wasn’t tough for Latifah because it was a lesbian role, it was tough because she was worried about affecting her family with it. This again, will probably drive those rumor mills into overdrive yet again. I can just see it now: ‘Latifah is comfortable with lesbian Cleo character because she IS “Cleo”‘…

Quite frankly, we, here at ILOSM, love Latifah- lesbian, straight, bi, or try-sexual (a word we learned from Tevin Campbell’s interview). She has, and always will be, one of the most versatile actresses in the game and to see how far she’s come with her multi-talented career since her 1989 “Ladies First” days- deserves a round of applause! The only problem I have in all of this, is that in my opinion, Latifah is just as gifted as her fellow rapper-turned-actor, Will Smith, but she has yet to earn $20 million-per-movie acting gigs…that’s the real controversy- not whether, or not she’s a lesbian…just saying…

Keep doing your thing Queen, you’re inspiring many!

The post Latifah Tells Why It Was Tough For Her To Play Lesbian “Cleo” In ‘Set It Off’ appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Remember “This Set It Off” Actor? Many Are Shocked He’s Doing THIS Now!

ilosm — Tue, 17 May 2016 21:00:16 +0000

If you’ve seen the ’96 classic film, “Set It Off,” then you probably recognize this actor. He played “Stoney’s” (Jada Pinkett-Smith) brother “Stevie” and his character was shot dead by police in a case of mistaken identity, just before he was about to go off to college…or so “Stoney” thought. Well his real name is Chaz Shepherd and although we’ve seen him in other roles since “Set It Off,” such as on the TV series, “The Game,” and others, many of us had NO idea that he was now doing something totally different for a living these days. Check it out below and prepare to be amazed…

[kkgallery kid=”1694″ title=”Remember “This Set It Off” Actor? Many Are Shocked He’s Doing THIS Now!”]

-ILoveOldSchoolMusic, old school news with a new point of view. Don’t forget to join our ILOSM family on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @iloveoldschoolmusic

The post Remember “This Set It Off” Actor? Many Are Shocked He’s Doing THIS Now! appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Queen Latifah’s Girlfriend In Set It Off Has A FAMOUS 70’s Actress Mother

ilosm — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 01:15:14 +0000

The mute’s mother is none other than Janet MacLachlan. Remember her? She was the actress who appeared on the “Florida Gets a Job” episode of Good Times when Gary Coleman snatched her wig off of her head and she yelled ” Oh! I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life?!!” That scene was CLASSIC and who would have ever thought that her lil’ girl would end up being “Cleo’s” girlfriend some tewnty plus years later?!!
Check out Janet’s and Gary Coleman’s infamous Good Times scene below…

Janet MacLachlan in Star TrekYou probably also remember Janet from her more popular roles in and episode of Star Trek as “Lt. Charlene Masters,” where she was one of the first African American actresses to appear on that series at that time. She was also one of the first Black actresses to rock an afro on a TV show in the 60’s.

Janet MacLachlan and Bill Cosby in “I Spy”Janet also starred in several other roles, such as an episode of the series, I Spy, where she appeared alongside Bill Cosby as one of the prettiest double agents we’d ever seen. She was on the Alfred Hitchcock Hour show, Barney Miller, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Monkey’s Paw, The Invaders, The FBI, Ironside, The Mod Squad, The Name of the Game, The Sounder, Murphy’s Law, the Boy Who Could Fly, and several other films and TV shows throughout her 50+ year career.

Samantha MacLachlan is Janet’s only daughter and there was not been any mention of who her father is.

Sadly, Janet passed away at the age of 77 in 2010 from complications due to a cardiovascular disease. She was living in Los Angeles at the time of her death.

As far as Samantha, she is now 45 years old and we’re not sure what she’s up to nowadays. After starring in a few more projects such as television series Once and Again, NYPD Blue, JAG, the films, Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story (1996) and Tear It Down (1997) and of course Set It Off, she pretty much retreated from the spotlight and lives a quiet non-celebrity type of life. But she’ll never be able to hide the fact that she was the woman who played the lesbian mute girlfriend of Queen Latifah in Set It Off, nor should she want to – her role added a great dynamic to that 90’s cult classic. It’s understandable why she was so convincing with her Ursula role now, acting is in her blood and her beloved mother, Janet MacLachlan, did an excellent job passing the torch to her daughter.

-ILoveOldSchoolMusic, old school news with a new point of view

The post Queen Latifah’s Girlfriend In Set It Off Has A FAMOUS 70’s Actress Mother appeared first on I Love Old School Music.