Suzanne de Passe (born in 1947) is an American entertainment executive, the CEO of the television production company de Passe Entertainment, and the first and only African-American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for screen writing.Suzanne was born in Harlem, New York to West Indian immigrants. Her mother was a school teacher and her father was an exectutive for Seagrams, Inc. Suzanne trasnferred from Syracuse University and eventually dropped out of Manhattan Community College. She became a talent coordinator for a New York club called Cheetah Disco and then a booking agent for the Howard Stein talent agency.
In 1964, de Passe was introduced to Motown Records (founder) Berry Gordy. Suzanne started out as Gordy's personal assistant. She eventually became the vice president in charge of creative operations for the West Coast division in Los Angeles. While in California, de Passe discovered a five-brother singing act, called The Jackson 5. The group would later become an international success, and would launch the career of Michael Jackson. Suzanne de Passe was also responsible for signing other music icons to Motown; including Lionel Ritchie, Teena Marie, and Rick James.
In 1973, Suzanne de Passe became the first African-American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for writing. She was nominated for co-writing the screenplay for the Berry Gordy-produced film, Lady Sings the Blues, starring Diana Ross as Billie Holiday. De Passe co-wrote the screenplay with Terence McCloy and Motown recording artist Chris Clark.By 1981, de Passe was the president of Motown Productions, where she continued to write and produce films under the Motown label. She won a 1983 Emmy for Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. She earned another Emmy in 1985 for Motown Returns to the Apollo. In 1989, Suzanne bought Motown Productions and formed her own production company called de Passe Entertainment. Among her productions in this period were the sitcoms Sister, Sister (1994) and Smart Guy (1997). The successful, Showtime at the Apollo series (2002), was also formed under this production label.
De Passe was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1990. In 2004, Ebony Magazine bestowed de Passe with the Madame C.J. Walker Award. She was also the recipient of the 2006 Producer of The Year Award from the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers & Directors.
