In 2015, Whitfield was cast in the series regular role of main villain in the Oprah Winfrey Network original scripted drama series, Greenleaf about the unscrupulous world of the Greenleaf family and their sprawling Memphis megachurch. Whitfield plays the leading role of Lady Mae Greenleaf, the imperious Minister's wife and power and money hungry matriarch of the family. The series also stars Keith David, Merle Dandridge, Kim Hawthorne and Oprah Winfrey. Whitfield has received positive reviews from critics for her performance as Lady Mae. One critic stated "Whitfield has the imperious aura of a grand soap opera diva in the tradition of Joan Collins."

She was given the Primetime Emmy Award in the categories of Outstanding Lead Actress of Miniseries or of Movie. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for the role she had as Josephine Baker in the HBO biographical drama film called the Josephine Baker Story. After the role of Josephine Baker, she got many other leading roles in many movies like The Women, Head of State, Eve’s Bayou, Gone Fishin’ and A Thin Line Between Love and Hate. She was the star of many other small movies on the movie, including the Oprah Winfrey Network called Greenleaf, where she was the villain Lady Mae Greenleaf. She has won the NAACP Image Awards for five times.

Lynn Whitfield got married two times. She got married to a person who was a co-founder and a pioneer for Black Theater. Her husband is Vantile Whitfield, he is also an actor, director and playwright. In the year 1974, she went to live in New York, where she started to appear for the Off-Broadway in the movies like The Great Macdaddy and the Showdown. After divorcing his first husband Vantile Whitfield in 1978, she got married to Brian Gibson. In her second marriage, she got a daughter called Grace Gibson and she divorced her second husband in the year 1992. She did not get children in the first marriage.

Lynn Whitfield’s height is 5 feet and 5 inches. Regardless of her age, she still looks young and elegant. Her biography can be accessed easily online and the followers can get to know more about what she is doing on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Her net worth is believed to be around 3 million dollars.