Joan Pringle (born June 2, 1945)[1] is an American actress known for her role as vice principal (and subsequently principal) Sybil Buchanan in the CBS drama series, The White Shadow (1978–1981), for which she received NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series.
She continued her education at Hunter College for a master's degree in drama, but decided to drop out and begin her acting career.
[7] Pringle made her screen debut that year, appearing as a pregnant woman giving birth to a premature baby in Emergency!.
's Revenge (1976) along with Glynn Turman and Louis Gossett, Jr.[13] Starting in 1978, she portrayed Sybil Buchanan, a high school vice principal, in The White Shadow.
[16] Pringle appeared as Gwen Singleton, the boss of Barbara Eden's character,[20] in Visions of Murder (1993) and its sequel Eyes of Terror (1994).
In film, Pringle portrayed housekeeper Sara in Original Sin (2001)[22] and a judge in Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls (2006).
[23] On Girlfriends, Pringle had a recurring role as Carol Hart, the mother of Tracee Ellis Ross's character Joan Clayton.
[16][25] Following her stint on Girlfriends, Pringle appeared in television series Being Mary Jane (2014) and feature film The Lost City (2022).