Character actor Lynn Hamilton, who grew up in the south suburbs and is best known for her role on the sitcom “Sanford and Son,” died June 19 at the age of 95. Ms. Hamilton portrayed a loving nurse named Donna Harris who was engaged to the show’s cantankerous main character, Fred Sanford, who was played by comedian Redd Foxx. Ms. Hamilton died from natural causes at her home in the Chicago area surrounded by family, according to Calvin Carson, her publicist and manager. “Sanford and Son” ran from 1972 to 1977 and was an instant ratings smash that helped pave the way for other television shows about Black families. She also starred in the first Black soap opera, “Generations,” which aired on NBC, and regularly appeared on “The Waltons.” “I like to be as selective as I can,” Hamilton said in a 1980 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times. “I will not do a part I cannot find virtue in. People who appear on television have a responsibility. ... There has been a real decline in what they’re putting on television. There has been a decline in roles for a woman my age — way over 40 — to appear in.” Ms. Hamilton attended Bloom High School in Chicago Heights and was part of the school’s drama club but never actually took the stage because “there were no plays where a Black girl could perform in,” she said. Ms. Hamilton went on to study acting at the Goodman Theatre, then affiliated with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After graduating, she contended with other role barriers. “I played maids in three shows. In my final year, they put me in white-face makeup just to get me on stage. You know — it worked,” she said in the Sun-Times interview. A whirlwind stage career followed. Hamilton won parts in Broadway shows and worked with the prestigious New York Shakespeare Festival. She married poet and playwright Frank S. Jenkins, who died in 2014. The couple lived in the Los Angeles area. Ms. Hamilton moved back to the Chicago area a few years ago to live with family. Ms. Hamilton was born April 25, 1930, to Nancy and Louis Hamilton and grew up in Yazoo, Mississippi, before moving to the Chicago area with her family. The actress appeared in a slew of shows, including “Gunsmoke,” “Hawaii Five-O,” “Knight Rider,” “The Golden Girls” and “Starsky & Hutch.” In more recent years, she appeared on “The Practice,” “Curb Your “Enthusiasm” and “Cold Case.” She also appeared in several movies, including “Lady Sings the Blues,” starring Diana Ross, and “Buck and the Preacher,” starring Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte and Ruby Dee, as well as the “The Vanishing,” starring Jeff Bridges and Kiefer Sutherland. Ms. Hamilton received a Lorraine Hansberry Award in 2016 from the Goodman Theatre, which honors African American women who were raised and educated in Chicago and have made indelible impacts on American theater. Another passion for Ms. Hamilton was gardening. “For many years, she had a lemon tree in her backyard in California and grew peppers in her garden that were hot, and when I say hot, even a person who loves spice couldn’t handle these,” Carson said, noting that Ms. Hamilton could endure the pepper’s heat with delight. Ms. Hamilton is survived by four grandchildren, Carson said.