'Scrubs' Actress Back from Dead

Zap2It.com | July 13, 2008

Aloma Wright of 'Scrubs'

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Aloma Wright gets new role on NBC series

Aloma Wright's character on "Scrubs" died two-thirds of the way through last season. Her job, however, did not.

Wright, who played the sarcastic, God-fearing nurse Laverne Roberts on the NBC comedy, will return to the show for its seventh and final year -- playing Laverne's twin sister. So says Variety, which notes that "Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence "didn't want to take work away from an actor" and thus devised the twin idea.

So why kill Laverne in the first place? Well, Lawrence figured that the 2006-07 season might be it for "Scrubs" and decided that a death among the show's regulars would be a compelling storyline. Laverne's death played out over two episodes in March and April.

Lawrence promised Roberts, though, that if the show came back for another year he'd find a way to include her. NBC did pick it up, and so Wright will be playing Laverne's sister, Shirley (yes, Laverne and Shirley) -- who will be the polar opposite of Laverne, a single alcoholic who's skeptical of religion.

"It's going to be fun developing another character after doing the same one for six years," Wright tells Variety. "I'm glad to know [Lawrence] is a man of his word and I've still got a job."

Wright's other credits include "Deliver Us from Eva" and "Johnson Family Vacation" as well as guest spots on "NCIS," "Cold Case," "NYPD Blue" and "Judging Amy."