Actress and acting coach Vernee Watson-Johnson is mainly popular for playing Will Smith’s mother Viola "Vy" Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. But other than this iconic character, she has also shown her versatility in many character roles, a large part of which also showcased her voice acting skills.
She found initial fame in the '70s with the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter. In the realm of animation, she started out with the Hannah-Barbara classic Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, in which she voiced Dee Dee Sykes. Her more recent guest appearances include roles in Young Sheldon and General Hospital.
TIE: Stella Henry (General Hospital) - 6.5
For her guest role as Stella Henry in the long-running daytime soap General Hospital, the actress earned herself a Daytime Emmy for Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series. Interestingly, she was also nominated for another Emmy in the Supporting Actress category for the same role that year.
Stella is a social worker at General Hospital in Port Charles, New York. She is also an aunt to the character, Curtis (Donnell Turner), with whom she wishes to improve her relationship. But family troubles and past infidelities and secrets test her bond.
TIE: Dee Dee Sykes (Captain Caveman And The Teen Angels) - 6.5
Dee Dee Sykes is one of Watson-Johnson’s most popular voice roles. Apart from Captain Caveman, the character also went on to appear in Scooby-Doo specials and other Hannah-Barbara productions. The character also appeared in 2020’s Scoob, but she was voiced by Kiersey Clemons this time.
She’s an assistant to Captain Caveman and was one of the first ones to thaw him out. A brainy character of the gang, fans have often noted parallels between her and Velma from Scooby-Doo.
Gloria Tyler (Bob Hearts Abishola) - 6.7
In her most latest screen credit, she plays the part of Gloria Tyler. Gloria is a head nurse at Woodward Memorial Hospital and often offers romantic and professional advice to her co-worker, Abhishola (Folake Olowofoyeku).
The sitcom deals with the romance between the titular protagonists, with Chuck Lorre serving as the creator and executive producer. Vernee Watson has previously appeared in several of Lorre's shows, including Grace Under Fire, Young Sheldon, Mike & Molly, and so on.
Verna Jean Williams (Welcome Back, Kotter) - 7
For 13 episodes on Welcome Back, Kotter, Vernee Watson-Johnson played Verna Jean Williams, the girlfriend of the main character, Freddie Washington (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs). The show was bold for the '70s, considering that it dealt with a high-school teacher who handles a racially diverse classroom.
The show was Watson-Johnson’s first major TV role and also introduced other young actors, most notably John Travolta, who played Vincent Barbarino, the "unofficial official leader" of the students in Mr. Kotter’s class.
Nurse Robinson (Young Sheldon) - 7.5
Having appeared in The Big Bang Theory, Vernee Watson-Johnson returned for the show’s prequel series Young Sheldon as, yet again, a nurse. Nurse Robinson caters to Sheldon’s (Iain Armitage) gall bladder operation, during which he proves to be quite troublesome, despite her patient demeanor. In another episode, she helps Sheldon’s father when he undergoes an emergency operation.
The role shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the actress is a veteran when it comes to playing nurses and judges. Her other guest credits as playing a nurse include shows like Two and a Half Men and The West Wing.
Joyce Carr (Batman Beyond: The Return Of Joker) - 7.8
Not a stranger to the DC Animated Universe, the actress had a brief cameo in the direct-to-DVD film Batman Beyond: The Return Of Joker. She voices Joyce Carr, an employee of Wayne Enterprises (after it merges with Powers Technology), who welcomes the aged Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) as he plans on returning to the company.
As Joyce welcomes him as the guest of honor for a party, Joker (Mark Hamill) and his goons attack the event. She calls for security, but the homicidal clown had already gassed them.
Viola "Vy" Smith (The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air) - 7.9
One of her most renowned characters, Viola Smith is Will’s (Will Smith) mother who struggles to raise him after her husband abandons the family. Even though she can sustain her son, she’s concerned about the neighborhood in which she lives. This ultimately prompts her to send him off to Bel-Air to live with his aunt and uncle.
However, Viola does make occasional appearances at family functions or when she's visiting Will. She has appeared in all six seasons as a recurring character.
Althea Davis (The Big Bang Theory) - 8.1
Althea Davis is a registered nurse who appears in the pilot episode of The Big Bang Theory, in which she’s seen at the reception of the "High IQ Sperm Bank." She then appeared in Seasons 4, 5, and 10, often to aid the protagonists when they were caught up in medically awkward situations. Nurse Althea is usually shown as a sarcastic person who relies on deadpan humor to judge Sheldon and his friends.
Her last appearance was another major moment, as she served as the delivery room nurse when Bernadette was having a baby.
Mrs. Doakes (Dexter) - 8.6
The mother of Sgt James Doakes and his sisters Jess and Roni Doakes, Mrs. Doakes appeared in the first two seasons of the Showtime crime drama Dexter. She shared a strained relationship with her son, James (Erik King), who usually tried distancing himself from her.
Later, it was revealed that Mrs. Doakes’ late husband had been abusive towards the family, causing some of the rifts, while James' own trauma from his violent history with the US Rangers affected his social life in general. When he is killed and framed for being The Bay Harbor Butcher, Mrs. Doakes and her daughters attend his funeral in an empty church.
Dana Blessing (Batman: The Animated Series) - 9
The DC classic Batman: The Animated Series made stars out of its leads Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, while also giving a platform to several other notable voice actors. Vernee Watson-Johnson voiced a Wayne Enterprises employee called Dana Blessing.
She served as Bruce Wayne’s secretary, and when he fell under Mat Hatter’s influence, he asked her to retrieve 20 million dollars from the company’s bank account. Additionally, Watson-Johnson’s trysts with DC are many, as she provided additional voices on Batman: The Mask of The Phantasm and Superman: The Animated Series.