Vernee Watson-Johnson Has Appeared in Multiple Chuck Lorre Shows as a Nurse, Including in ‘The Big Bang Theory’
Vernee Watson-Johnson has more than 180 acting credits to her name. She has appeared in movies, TV shorts, and several popular shows. Many fans may remember Watson-Johnson as Viola Smith, Will’s mother, in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. She also took on the role of Patrice in Sister, Sister, and she played a doctor in Days of Our Lives. While Watson-Johnson has played a variety of different characters over the years, she has been cast as a medical professional a lot, and Chuck Lorre is responsible for several of those castings. Watson-Johnson has appeared as a nurse in several of Lorre’s creations.
Vernee Watson-Johnson appeared in ‘Two and a Half Men’ as a nurse more than once
Vernee Watson-Johnson worked on several shows that Chuck Lorre was a writer. She was later cast in shows he created, too. For example, she appeared in Two and a Half Men. Watson-Johnson appeared in four episodes as various characters, mostly as a medical professional.
Watson-Johnson first appeared in the series in 2004 as an unnamed character. The character was a nurse. In 2011, she appeared again as Nurse Phyllis. Watson-Johnson returned to the series the following year as Nurse Lorna. She last appeared in Two and a Half men in 2015 as a character named Karen.
She has also appeared in ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and ‘Young Sheldon as a medical professional
Watson-Johnson’s work on Lorre’s shows as a nurse wasn’t done with Two and a Half Men. The character actor appeared in The Big Bang Theory as Althea in six episodes, including the pilot. Watson-Johnson acted as the receptionist at the high IQ sperm bank Leonard Hofstadter, and Sheldon Cooper visited in the first moments of the series. Interestingly enough, she also appeared in the unaired pilot.
Later, Watson-Johnson would return as a nurse at the hospital where Howard Wolowitz faked a peanut allergy and again when Howard got his genitals caught in a robot arm. She reprised her role as Althea in the season 10 episode that welcomed Howard and Bernadette’s baby into the world. She was a delivery room nurse.
Watson-Johnson took her medical acting expertise into the famed The Big Bang Theory prequel. She appeared in Young Sheldon, although she did not return to the prequel as Althea. Instead, Watson-Johnson played Nurse Robison. She appeared in two episodes before moving on to another Chuck Lorre show.
Most recently, she appeared in ‘Bob Hearts Abishola’
Most recently, Watson-Johnson has taken her medical acting skills to Bob Hearts Abishola. In the Lorre-created series, Watson-Johnson plays, you guessed it, a nurse. Watson-Johnson’s role in Bob Hearts Abishola is far more substantial than in previous Chuck Lorre creations.
In the series, Watson-Johnson portrays Gloria, a wisecracking registered nurse at Woodward Memorial Hospital. Watson-Johnson’s character is friends with Abishola, the nurse who Bob falls for after suffering a heart attack. Watson-Johnson has appeared in 63 of the show’s 67 episodes.
