Odessa Cotter — The Long Walk Home Character Profile

About Odessa Cotter

African-American maid and nanny working for Miriam Thompson. Faces poverty, racism, and segregation during the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, forcing her to take long walks to work while advocating for community rights.

Character Facts

Played by

Whoopi Goldberg

Appears in

The Long Walk Home (1990)

Role

Supporting

Relationships (2)

• Odessa Cotter — Alliance Ally — Mary Catherine (Lexi Randall)

  Mary Catherine physically aligns herself with Odessa during the final protest.

• Odessa Cotter — Professional Employer — Miriam Thompson (Sissy Spacek)

  Miriam employs Odessa as a domestic worker, establishing a professional hierarchy.

Explore the full interactive character relationship map of The Long Walk Home

More characters from The Long Walk Home

• Miriam Thompson (Sissy Spacek)
• Norman Thompson (Dwight Schultz)
• Herbert Cotter (Ving Rhames)
• Tunker Thompson (Dylan Baker)
• Selma Cotter (Erika Alexander)
• Sara Thompson (Crystal Robbins)
• Theodore Cotter (Richard Habersham)
• Claudia (Cherene Snow)
• Mary Catherine (Lexi Randall)
• Franklin Cotter (Jason Weaver)
• Winston (Philip Sterling)
• Judy (Girl at Oak Park) (Schuyler Fisk)