Born Madge Dorita Walters in Kingston, Jamaica to Jamaican parents Herbert and Jemima Walters, Sinclair studied at Shortwood College for Women. After completing her studies, Sinclair worked as a teacher in Jamaica until 1966 when she left for New York to pursue her career in acting. Sinclair began acting with the New York Shakespearean Festival and at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre.
Career
Following Roots, she starred in the 1978 film Convoy as the Widow Woman, and she played Leona Hamiltons in Cornbread, Earl and Me. Sinclair received an Emmy Award nomination for her role as Belle in the miniseries Roots. Also in 1978, she co-starred in the short-lived sitcomGrandpa Goes to Washington. Sinclair went on to a long-running stint in the 1980s as nurse Ernestine Shoop on the series Trapper John, M.D. 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". In 1988, Sinclair played Queen Aoleon alongside James Earl Jones' King Jaffe Joffer in the Eddie Murphy comedy Coming to America, which reunited her on screen with her Roots husband and co-star John Amos. 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 Disneyanimated filmThe Lion King, respectively. The film became one of the best-selling titles ever on home video. It would also be her last film role. The two also collaborated on the series Gabriel's Fire, which earned Sinclair an Emmy in 1991 for Best Supporting Actress in a Dramatic Series, famously beating out the expected winner, L.A. Law Diana Muldaur. Sinclair played the role of Lally in the 1991 Channel 4 television miniseries The Orchid House, directed by Horace Ové, and also received critical praise for her supporting role in the 1992 television movie' 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 ABC-TV sitcom Me and the Boys, which starred Steve Harvey. Sinclair, in her brief role as the captain of the USS Saratoga in ', is commonly cited as the first female Starfleet starship captain to appear in Star Trek. Years later, Sinclair played Geordi La Forge's mother, captain of the USS Hera, in 's "Interface |Interface". Her final acting role was in an episode of the sitcom Dream On, which first aired one month before her death.
Sinclair was married to Royston Sinclair, a Jamaican police officer, from 1956 until 1969, and had two sons with him, Garry and Wayne Sinclair. In 1982, Sinclair married actor Dean Compton, whom she was still married to at the time of her death. Sinclair died on December 20, 1995 after a 13-year illness with leukemia. Her remains were cremated and her ashes were scattered in her hometown in Jamaica. She was awarded the Order of Distinction, Rank of Commander, by the prime minister of Jamaica.
