Danielle Pinnock

Pinnock was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Jamaican immigrant parents, and from age 10 was raised in Teaneck, New Jersey.^[3][4] At the 51st Daytime Emmy Awards Pinnock said her middle name was Ashley and that she was named for Ashley Abbott of The Young and the Restless.^[5]

Beginning in fifth grade, she performed in local theater productions at school and at the Garage Theater Group.^[6] In high school at Saddle River Day School, she was active in performing arts activities.^[1] Her father died when she was 16.^[4]

She received her bachelor's degree in theater and communications from Temple University, and there met fellow student Quinta Brunson.^[7] She received her graduate degree in acting from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. She interviewed approximately 300 people for her one-woman dissertation show Body/Courage, which centers body image and diet culture, and went on to perform the show over a five-year period.^[1][4] Pinnock later received a fellowship to train in improv and sketch comedy at Second City in Chicago.^[1]

Pinnock moved to Los Angeles in 2016 and was cast as an understudy for the Robert O'Hara play Barbecue, staged at Geffen Playhouse and directed by Colman Domingo.^[1][4] Shortly after, she was cast in her first television role on NBC's This Is Us.^[1] She has also appeared on the series Get Shorty, Workaholics, A Black Lady Sketch Show and done voice acting for the programs The Boss Baby: Back in Business, Where’s Waldo?, and ThunderCats Roar.^[8][9][1] From 2017, for seasons 1–4, Pinnock was a supporting character on Young Sheldon.^[4]

In 2018, she created the Instagram series Hashtag Booked to comment on the barriers encountered by Black women in the entertainment industry.^[4][6] She and co-creator LaNisa Renée Frederick received a Webby Award for the series.^[1] After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Pinnock gained wider prominence for her comedic videos posted to her Instagram and TikTok.^[4] She was named to Backstage's list of 25 On-the-Rise Performers You Need to Know in 2022.^[10]

Pinnock gained wider prominence as a main cast member on the 2021 CBS comedy Ghosts, on which she plays Alberta, a 1920s era jazz singer.^[1] Although she has no formal vocal training, she started to take lessons after she was cast.^[7] Salon hailed her acting as one of 10 breakout performances of 2021.^[11] She won in 2024 Astra Award and a 2025 NAACP Image Award, as well a Black Reel Award nomination for her performance.^[12][13][14]

Pinnock resides in Los Angeles. In 2013^[15] she married British dialect coach Jack Wallace, whom she met while in her graduate program at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.^[1]

Television

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2016	This Is Us	Ruth	1 episode[8]
2017	Workaholics	Hair Dresser	1 episode[9]
2017–2019	Get Shorty	Pamela	Recurring[9]
2017–2020	Young Sheldon	Ms. Ingram	Recurring[9]
2018	Scandal	Krystal	1 episode[1]
2019	Teachers	Yolanda	1 episode[16]
	Dollface	Nadine	1 episode[17]
2019–2020	Where's Waldo?	Cake Vendor / Wizard Doubloon (voice)	2 episodes[1]
2020	ThunderCats Roar	Barbastella (voice)	2 episodes[1]
	The Boss Baby: Back in Business	Pearl (voice)	1 episode[1]
2020–2022	Doug Unplugs	Kath (voice)	Recurring[18]
2021	A Black Lady Sketch Show	Halle	1 episode
2021–present	Ghosts	Alberta	Main role[6]
2025	Very Important People	Ta'Tania Jackson	1 episode[19]

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Film

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Role	Note
2021	The Undertaker's Wife	Angela	[20]
2022	Tell It Like a Woman	Debra	[21]
2023	Candy Cane Lane	Kit	[22]
2026	Same Same But Different	Simone	[23]

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