She and Felicity Huffman are the only two cast members of "Desperate Housewives" to have Oscar nominations

Was member of the dramatic jury at the Sundance Film Festival in 1998.

Has gone three for three at the Screen Actor's Guild Awards; she has had three nominations and won all three times. She has won for her work in "The Piano Lessons" and "Miss Evers' Boys" as well as her ensemble work in the comedy "Desperate Housewives"

Among the Star Trek toys released for the movie Star Trek: First Contact (1996), an action figure was made of Alfre in the likeness of her character Lili in the film.

Played Dr. Roxanne Turner in "St. Elsewhere" (1982) and years later in an episode of "Homicide: Life on the Street" (1993). Tom Fontana was a writer for the first, and an executive producer for the second.

Attended Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

As of September 13, 2003, she now holds the record of being the most honored African American actress in Primetime Emmy history. Until her win (as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for "The Practice" (1997)), she was tied with Cicely Tyson at three Primetime Emmys apiece. She won her first Primetime Emmy in 1984 as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for a three-episode guest stint on "Hill Street Blues" (1981), as the mother of a young boy accidentally killed by a police officer. Her second Primetime Emmy came in 1986 as Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series (a category which has since been split into male and female equivalents) for the "Pilot" episode of "L.A. Law" (1986) playing a woman dying of leukemia who claims to have been a victim of gang rape. In 1997, she won her third Primetime Emmy for Miss Evers' Boys (1997) (TV) against stiff competition from the likes of Meryl Streep, Glenn Close and Stockard Channing.

Was member of the dramatic jury at the Sundance Film Festival in 1990.

She was so impressed with the script of the independent film Follow Me Home (1996) that she offered to play the role of Evey without pay; much to the delight and awe of filmmaker Peter Bratt.

Has one daughter, Mavis and one son, Duncan

Her old Tulsa, Oklahoma house located near the Broken Arrow Expressway is the same part of the Oklahoma Turnpike the Jackson family would take by bus to California for Jackson-Five performances.