Saundra McClain is an actor, director, producer, and writer.  She has performed on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in television and movies. As a writer she is currently writing  Pushing Boundaries: Career Paths of African American Directors in collaboration with Clinton Turner Davis to be published by Routledge Publishing.  McClain was a member of The New Federal Theater and the Negro Ensemble Company.  She appeared at The New York Shakespeare Festival and Theatre de Lys.  Her Off-Broadway credits include: BLACK GIRL (1971), THE RIVER NIGER (1972), SIDNEY POET HEROICAL (1974), THE PRODIGAL SISTER (1974),GILBEAU (1975), BUBBLING BROWN SUGAR (1976), DISTRICT LINE (1984), THE COLORED MUSEUM (1987), FROM THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA (1987), THE FORBIDDEN CITY (1989), PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE (1991), GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA (GOOD MORNING JULIET) (1992), ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN (1994), STOP-KISS (1998), LONG ROAD HOME (2000).  On Broadway, McClain has appeared in: The River Niger, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf, Comin’ Uptown, The Seven Guitars. Her film and television work include: Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward), The Last Tycoon (with Kelsey Grammer), Craig of the Creek, See You In The Morning (with Jeff Bridges), Free of Eden (opposite Sidney Poitier), The Sixth Man (opposite Marlon Wayans), Maid In Manhattan (with Jennifer Lopez), Criminal Justice (opposite Forrest Whitaker/Anthony LaPaglia), Dust (opposite Adrian Lester), Night of the Juggler (with James Brolin), The Whitney Houston Story, Third Watch, Hart of Dixie, Law and Order, L.A. Law,  King, As The World Turns, Loving, Ryan’s Hope, Jessica’s Brave New World.

Believing ‘you never leave a job without having another one,’ Saundra McClain transferred from her job with the post office in Philadelphia to the post office in New York City.  Her love of theater in school made her seek jobs in the industry and soon she was the Assistant Talent Co-Ordinator on the Johnny Carson Show, after serving as a ‘Guidette at NBC.’  She studied acting at HB Studios with Bill Hickey, the New Heritage Workshop, Voices Inc.,  and Henry Street Settlement.  She auditioned for Shauneille Perry who cast her in BLACK GIRL produced at The Theatre de Lys.  From there McClain worked with The Negro Ensemble Company performing at St. Mark’s Place doing THE RIVER NIGER (directed by Douglas Turner Ward), DISTRICT LINE, and FROM THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA.  She became part of the New Federal Theatre, doing SIDNEY POET HEROICIAL (Amiri Baraka), THE PRODIGAL SISTER (Micki Grant composer), and GILBEAU(Clayton Riley).  Her first Broadway show was THE RIVER NIGER, and she took over the role of Lady in Red in For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf directed by Oz Scott, then Comin’ Uptown directed by Philip Rose opposite Gregory Hines and The Seven Guitars with Viola Davis.  Once moving to the west coast, McClain began an extensive directing career.  She worked and continues to work in regional and university theater directing and teaching and is an ensemble member of Antaeus Theatre in Glendale, CA among others.  She has directed Raisin in the Sun, In the Continuum, The Fantastiks, Dancing Lessons, Breath and Imagination, Crumbs at the Table of Joy, Closely Related Keys, The Play That Goes Wrong, Cabaret, Spring Awakening, The Crucible, Oh Freedom, to name a few.  Her acting career continues on both coasts, and credits include: Look Homeward Angel (with John Cullum), Porgy and Bess (Houston Grand Opera), Much Ado About Nothing (McCarter/Shakespeare Theatre, DC), Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (The Alley Theatre Company), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (The Alliance Theatre), Spunk, Dido, Queen of Carthage (American Repertory Theatre), Oklahoma, Macbeth, Wedding Band, and more.  McClain has been nominated for NAACP Theatre Awards, Ovation Awards: Lead Actress in a Play as well as the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award: for the role of Lena Younger in A Raisin in the Sun, and her performance in Wedding Band.