Lorraine Toussaint (born
April 4,
1960) is a
television actress best known for playing assistant
medical examiner Elaine Duchamps on the television drama
Crossing Jordan. Before taking the role, Toussaint was a featured guest-star on the drama
Law & Order, as Shambala Green, a foil to
Michael Moriarty's
Ben Stone, and later to
Sam Waterston's
Jack McCoy. Toussaint also starred alongside
Annie Potts in the four year
Lifetime drama
Any Day Now. She also played the role of "Almond Joy" in the movie
Hudson Hawk. As of
2007 she began a recurring stint on
Ugly Betty, where she plays prison inmate Yoga, who befriends
Claire Meade (played by
Judith Light) at a correctional institute. In the season finale the two team up and make an escape en route to prison.
Toussaint was also a regular guest on the drama
Threat Matrix, as Carina Wright/Agent Cassandra Hodges. In 1993, Toussaint played a role of Beth in Point Of No Return starring Bridget Fonda.