Early Life
Caldwell, the middle child in the family, was born Laverne Scott in Chicago, Illinois to working class parents. She grew up in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. When she was a student in a high enrollment elementary school Caldwell attended the morning session, and her older siblings went to school in the afternoon. When the school released her at noon she was escorted to a neighborhood theater where she was minded by a friend of her mother. It was there that her love of film was born. At that early age she did not realize she wanted to be an actress, but she did know that she wanted to be like Bette Davis or Loretta Young.
While attending Hyde Park High School, Caldwell joined the drama club. Her class went to see a performance of A Day of Absence, featuring Douglas Turner Ward, one of the founders of The Negro Ensemble Company. It was the first time she saw professional black actors on stage.
After graduating from high school in 1967, Caldwell attended Northwestern University. Caldwell left the school after one year and went to work full-time as an operator at Illinois Bell. She got married and had a son. She transferred her credits to Loyola University-Chicago and earned a bachelor's degree in Theater Arts and Communications.
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