Celebrity Beginnings: From the Stage to the Screen

These celebs made their debut on the stage!

Celebrity Beginnings: From the Stage to the Screen - From Demetria McKinney to Taye Diggs and many more, there are plenty of celebs who got their start as actors onstage and then earned even more fame and success on-screen. Check it out here! (Photo: Laura Magruder/Bravo)

1 / 10

Celebrity Beginnings: From the Stage to the Screen - From Demetria McKinney to Taye Diggs and many more, there are plenty of celebs who got their start as actors onstage and then earned even more fame and success on-screen. Check it out here! (Photo: Laura Magruder/Bravo)

Taye Diggs - From his humble beginnings in Rent to adjusting his heels for his debut in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Taye Diggs has acquired years of skill under his belt. But moving from Broadway to the Best Man was easy for this guy; he already had the support of his leading lady, Idina Menzel, whom he met during their time in Rent. He even got the chance to play his now ex-wife's main man in the Broadway musical Wicked. (Photo: Universal Studios)

2 / 10

Taye Diggs - From his humble beginnings in Rent to adjusting his heels for his debut in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Taye Diggs has acquired years of skill under his belt. But moving from Broadway to the Best Man was easy for this guy; he already had the support of his leading lady, Idina Menzel, whom he met during their time in Rent. He even got the chance to play his now ex-wife's main man in the Broadway musical Wicked. (Photo: Universal Studios)

Sheryl Lee Ralph - Sheryl Lee Ralph is well-known for her role on Moesha, but she's equally as known for her breathtaking role as Deena Jones in the original Dreamgirls play, along with fellow actress Loretta Devine. Currently, Sheryl Lee Ralph has had a regular role on the TV series Instant Mom, so it's safe to say she'll be in the television lane for a while. (Photo: UPN/Landov)

3 / 10

Sheryl Lee Ralph - Sheryl Lee Ralph is well-known for her role on Moesha, but she's equally as known for her breathtaking role as Deena Jones in the original Dreamgirls play, along with fellow actress Loretta Devine. Currently, Sheryl Lee Ralph has had a regular role on the TV series Instant Mom, so it's safe to say she'll be in the television lane for a while. (Photo: UPN/Landov)

Boston Public - From 2000 through 2003, Heavy had a recurring role on Fox's high school drama Boston Public as Bob "Big Boy" Lick, the school's compassionate guidance counselor.(Photo: FOX)

4 / 10

Loretta Devine - Like Sheryl Lee Ralph, Loretta Devine started her career in Dreamgirls. She's also starred in The Carmichael Show, The Client List and many more films and TV series. (Photo: Kharen Hill/Fox)

The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) - While her role in That Man of Mine introduced her to the world as an actress, her performance in the 1950's The Jackie Robinson Story brought her much deserved prominence. She starred opposite the first African-American in Major League Baseball, who played himself in the film, while Dee played his wife.(Photo: Jewel Productions)

5 / 10

Ruby Dee - Ruby Dee was a notable legend in acting, from the screen to the stage. Her time in show biz has been lengthy, from A Raisin in the Sun to Do the Right Thing to American Gangster and many more. She first starred in the 1940 play On Striver’s Row. (Photo: Jewel Productions)

ADVERTISEMENT
Diahann Carroll - Diahann Carroll is known for her role in Dynasty but before that she broke out on the acting scene back in 1954 in Carmen Jones and House of Flowers. (Photo: NBC Television/Courtesy of Getty Images)

6 / 10

Diahann Carroll - Diahann Carroll is known for her role in Dynasty but before that she broke out on the acting scene back in 1954 in Carmen Jones and House of Flowers. (Photo: NBC Television/Courtesy of Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: NBC Television/Courtesy of Getty Images

How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998) - Goldberg plays the discerning friend of Angela Basset's Stella, the character whom the movie is named after.  (Photo: Twentieth Century Fox)

7 / 10

Angela Bassett - You know her from How Stella Got Her Groove Back, What’s Love Got to Do With It, Waiting to Exhale and even for leading the "black don't crack movement," but did you know that Angela Bassett started her career in the 1985 play Black Girl? (Photo: Twentieth Century Fox)

Jackée Harry - The hilarious personality Jackée Harry from television shows like Sister, Sister and 227 got her rise to fame when she played in the 1978 musical A Broadway Musical. (Photo: Fotos International/Getty Images)

8 / 10

Jackée Harry - The hilarious personality Jackée Harry from television shows like Sister, Sister and 227 got her rise to fame when she played in the 1978 musical A Broadway Musical. (Photo: Fotos International/Getty Images)

Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) in How to Get Away With Murder  - Law never looked so sexy. Annalise brings an entirely new complexity to primetime TV with her complicated and scandalous life. Law professor and attorney by day and unfaithful wife by night, Professor Keating's life is anything but a walk in the park. Viola Davis's portrayal of Keating has been so impressive that she won a Screen Actors Guild Award and Emmy for her performance in the series.(Photo: Mitchell Haaseth/ABC)

9 / 10

Viola Davis - Back in 1996, Viola Davis starred in the play Seven Guitars. After that she was well on her way to winning her 2001 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for King Hedley II and 2010 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for Fences. More recently, she's known for her role in the hit series How to Get Away With Murder and her starring role in the film The Help. (Photo: Mitchell Haaseth/ABC)

Jeffrey Wright - Jeffrey Wright started off with his role in Playboy of the West Indies, the 1989 Yale Repertory Theater play. After that, he scooped up a 1994 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Angels in America: Perestroika. But you may be most familiar with him in the films Casino Royale, Cadillac Records or The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. (Photo: LionsGate)

10 / 10

Jeffrey Wright - Jeffrey Wright started off with his role in Playboy of the West Indies, the 1989 Yale Repertory Theater play. After that, he scooped up a 1994 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Angels in America: Perestroika. But you may be most familiar with him in the films Casino Royale, Cadillac Records or The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. (Photo: LionsGate)