Overview
- Representative LaShirl Smith and Shepard’s family confirmed she died in Los Angeles on March 16 from a sudden, massive heart attack.
- Shepard, 74, co-hosted Showtime at the Apollo from 1987 to 2002 and was celebrated as the show’s “Apollo Queen of Fashion.”
- Her career spanned television, film, and Broadway, with credits including A Different World, Baywatch, NYPD Blue, Grey’s Anatomy, and stage roles in Bubbling Brown Sugar and Porgy and Bess.
- She founded The KIS Foundation in 2006 to support and educate communities affected by sickle cell disease.
- The Apollo Theater honored her on its marquee and issued a statement praising her legacy as colleagues and fans shared remembrances, with her family indicating memorial details will follow.