Bahni Turpin (born June 4, 1962 in Pontiac, Michigan)[1] is an American audiobook narrator and stage and screen actor based out of Los Angeles.[2] Her audiobook career includes some of the most popular and critically-acclaimed books in recent years,[3] including The Help and The Hate U Give.[4] She has won 9 Audie Awards, including Audiobook of the Year for Children of Blood and Bone; 14 Earphone Awards; and 2 Odyssey Awards. Turpin has also earned a place on AudioFile magazine's list of Golden Voice Narrators,[5] and in 2016, she was named Audible's Narrator of the Year.[6] In 2018, Audible inducted her into the Narrator Hall of Fame.[7]
Turpin began her acting career in 1991 with her debut role in the film Daughters of the Dust,[8] the first feature film directed by an African-American woman distributed theatrically in the United States.[9] She has since appeared on television shows such as Criminal Minds.
Turpin is also a member of the Cornerstone Theater Company.
Outside of acting, Turpin has been a long-time yoga instructor.
Discussing the power Turpin brings to every role she plays, Audible wrote, "Turpin’s embodiment of characters helps to further pull you into the author’s world and drive home all of the pain and emotion they are carrying." They continued, stating that "her embodiment of characters that span a wide range of ages and cultural backgrounds is unparalleled."
Year | Title | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | The Help | Audie Award for Fiction | Winner | |
Precious | Winner | [12] | ||
The True Meaning of Smekday | Winner | [13] [14] | ||
2011 | The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Audie Award for Nonfiction | Winner | [15] |
The True Meaning of Smekday | Odyssey Award | Winner | [16] | |
2012 | The Mighty Miss Malone | Earphones Award for Children | Winner | [17] |
2013 | Hold Fast | Listen Up Award for YA/Children's | Finalist | [18] |
2014 | Sugar | Audie Award for Middle Grade Title | Finalist | [19] |
2015 | Unstoppable Octobia May | Audie Award for Middle Grade Title | Finalist | [20] |
Yellow Crocus | Audie Award for Solo Narration – Female | Winner | [21] | |
2016 | Audible Narrator of the Year | Winner | ||
Citizens Creek | Audie Award for Fiction | Finalist | [22] | |
Jump Back, Paul | Audie Award for Middle Grade Title | Finalist | [23] | |
The Underground Railroad | Publisher Weekly's Narrator of the Year | Winner | [24] | |
2017 | Sister of Mine | Audie Award for Fiction | Winner | [25] |
The Underground Railroad | Audie Award for Audiobook of the Year | Finalist | [26] [27] | |
Audie Award for Best Female Narrator | Finalist | |||
Audie Award for Literary Fiction or Classics | Finalist | |||
2018 | Audible Narrator Hall of Fame | Winner | ||
Children of Blood and Bone | Audie Award for Audiobook of the Year | Winner | [28] [29] | |
Winner | [30] | |||
The Hate U Give | Odyssey Award | Winner | [31] [32] | |
Audie Award for Best Female Narrator | Winner | [33] | ||
2019 | AudioFile Golden Voice Narrator | Winner | ||
Ada Twist and the Perilous Pants | Earphones Award | Winner | [34] | |
Before She Was Harriet | Audie Award for Young Listeners' Title | Winner | ||
Look Both Ways | Earphones Award | Winner | [35] | |
Red at the Bone | Earphones Award | Winner | [36] | |
The Yellow House | Earphones Award for Biography & Memoir | Winner | ||
Zora and Langston | Earphones Award | Winner | [37] | |
2020 | The Book of Lost Friends | Earphones Award for Historical Fiction | Winner | |
Charlotte's Web | Audie Award for Middle Grade | Winner | [38] | |
Charlotte's Web | Earphones Award | Winner | [39] | |
Fighting Words | Earphones Award for Children | Winner | ||
Pew | Earphones Award for Fiction | Winner | ||
Red at the Bone | Audie Award for Literary Fiction or Classics | Finalist | [40] | |
2021 | Fighting Words | Odyssey Award | Honoree | [41] [42] |
Pew | Audie Award for Literary Fiction or Classics | Finalist | [43] | |
2022 | Blackout | Winner | [44] | |
The Best American Short Stories 2021 | Finalist | |||
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev | Audie Award for Fiction | |||
Winner | [45] |
Year | Title | List | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | New England White | Listen Up Award for Mystery | [46] |
2009 | The Help | ListenUp Award for Fiction | [47] |
2010 | Precious | AudioFile Best of Fiction | |
2011 | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | [48] [49] | |
The True Meaning of Smekday | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | ||
Notable Children's Recordings | [50] | ||
2012 | Bird in a Box | AudioFile Best Children's Audiobooks | |
The Mighty Miss Malone | AudioFile Best of 2012: Children's | ||
The Other Half of My Heart | Notable Children's Recordings | [51] | |
2013 | The Mighty Miss Malone | Notable Children's Recordings | [52] |
2016 | Jump Back, Paul | Notable Children's Recordings | [53] |
The Sun is Also a Star | Publishers Weekly Best Audiobooks of 2016 | ||
Listen List | [54] | ||
The Underground Railroad | Publishers Weekly Best Audiobooks of 2016 | ||
2017 | The Hate U Give | Publishers Weekly Best Audiobooks for Children’s/YA | [55] |
A Kind of Freedom | The Washington Post, Best Audiobooks | [56] | |
Unbound | Notable Children's Recordings | [57] | |
2018 | The Hate U Give | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | [58] |
Notable Children's Recordings | [59] | ||
The Sun is Also a Star | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | ||
2019 | Ada Twist and the Perilous Pants | AudioFile Best Children & Family Listening | |
American Spy | AudioFile Best Mystery & Suspense | ||
Before She Was Harriet | Notable Children's Recordings | [60] | |
Children of Blood and Bone | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | [61] | |
Notable Children's Recordings | [62] | ||
The Darkest Child | The Listen List | [63] [64] | |
Look Both Ways | AudioFile Best Biography & Children & Family Listening | ||
Red at the Bone | AudioFile Best Fiction, Poetry & Drama | ||
Zora and Langston | AudioFile Best Biography & History | ||
2020 | Black Enough | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | [65] |
On the Come Up | Notable Children's Recordings | [66] [67] | |
Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | [68] | ||
Red at the Bone | The Listen List | [69] | |
Roller Girl | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | ||
Spin | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | ||
When the Ground is Hard | Notable Children's Recordings | ||
When Stars Are Scattered | AudioFile Best Children's | ||
Booklist Editors' Choice Youth Audio | [70] | ||
2021 | 145th Street | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | [71] |
Booklist Editors' Choice Adult Audio | [72] | ||
Fighting Words | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | ||
Notable Children's Recordings | [73] | ||
From the Desk of Zoe Washington | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | ||
Notable Children's Recordings | |||
Look Both Ways | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | ||
The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | [74] | |
This is My America | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | ||
Tiny Imperfections | The Listen List | [75] [76] | |
2022 | Cinderella Is Dead | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | [77] |
Sugar Town Queens | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1991 | Daughters of the Dust | Iona Peazant | ||
1992 | Rain Without Thunder | 'Baby Bomb' Prisoner | ||
Follower at Temple #7 | ||||
1993 | Law & Order | Theresa Jones | Episode: Night & Fog | |
The Saint of Fort Washington | Gloria | |||
1994 | Getting In | Valerie Bookbinder | ||
Rebel Highway | Melba Mason | Episiode: Girls in Prison | ||
Girls in Prison | Melba | |||
Since Lisa | ||||
1995 | The Jeff Foxworthy Show | Nicki | Episode: The Gene Pool | |
1996 | Ensign Swinn / Swinn | Episodes:
| ||
In the House | Zelda | Episode: The Curse of Hill House | ||
Carly | Episode: Stop the Presses | |||
1997 | 'Angel' Actress | Episode: Grip Till It Hurts | ||
1998 | Seinfeld | Waitress #1 | Episode: The Wizard | |
Chicago Hope | Sandra, the Kronk's Neighbor | Episode: The Breast and the Brightest | ||
The Pretender | Nurse Roberts | Episode: Parole | ||
L. A. Doctors | Miss Corelli | Episode: Leap of Faith | ||
1999 | Brokedown Palace | Jamaican Prisoner | ||
Undressed | Dani | Episodes:
| ||
2000 | Family Law | Episode: Playing God | ||
ER | Mrs. Lattimer | Episode: Loose Ends | ||
Strong Medicine | Charlotte Gould | Episode: Dependency | ||
Dharma & Greg | Mary | Episode: Love, Honor, and Ole! | ||
2001 | NYPD Blue | Louise Dunner | Episode: Russellmania | |
Judging Amy | Atty. Carmen Devere | Episode: Imbroglio | ||
The Steve Harvey Show | Jeanette | Episode: Stuck on You | ||
2002 | Crossroads | Ms. Jenson | ||
2003 | The Parkers | Madame Patrice | Episode: Love Potion #83 | |
Mister Sterling | Episode: The Statewide Swing | |||
Crossing Jordan | Bahni / Bonny | Episodes:
| ||
Girlfriends | Anita | Episode: Snoop, There It Is | ||
2004 | The Guardian | Megan's Lawyer | Episode: All Is Mended | |
Soul Food | Danielle | Episode: Take It to the Limit | ||
Pryor Offenses | Patty | |||
2004-2005 | Cold Case | Lindsey Dunlay | Episodes:
| |
2005 | Six Feet Under | Wolf's Girlfriend | Episode: Dancing for Me | |
The Comeback | Yoga Instructor | Episode: Valerie Gets a Magazine Cover | ||
2006 | The Bernie Mac Show | Kai | Episode: It's Never as Bad as the First Time | |
Out of the Woods | ||||
What About Brian | Baby Dance Instructor | Episode: What About Second Chances | ||
2007 | Lincoln Heights | Vera | Episodes:
| |
2009 | Without A Trace | Shannon | Episode: Daylight | |
Mental | Louisa Knox | Episode: Do Over | ||
Buona Fortuna | Sylvia | |||
2012 | Pretty Little Liars | Hotline Counselor | Episode: A Hot Piece of A | |
2016 | Lieutenant Ananda Doshi | Episode: Iqiniso | ||
2017 | Chance | Watson | Episode: The Collected Works of William Shakespeare | |
2018 | O. G. | Ludlow | ||
Code Black | Meryl | Episode: Better Angels | ||
2019 | The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage | Narrator | ||
2020 | NCIS | Camille West | Episode: Blood and Treasure | |
2021 | Judy | Episode: Dust to Dust | ||
Farrina | Farrina | Episodes:
| ||
2022 | If Sharks Disappeared |