Mary Alice

2022 - 7 - 28

Tony and Emmy winning actress Mary Alice has died at age 85 (NPR)

From Rose Maxson in Fences on Broadway to Lettie Bostic on TV's A Different World, Alice's career encompassed comedy, drama, stage and screen.

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Mary Alice, veteran actress who won a Tony for 'Fences,' dies (The Washington Post)

She was celebrated for her performance in August Wilson's Pulitzer-winning drama, and also known for her screen roles in "Sparkle" and "A Different World."

On-screen, she played Oprah Winfrey’s mother in the 1989 miniseries “The Women of Brewster Place,” based on Gloria Naylor’s novel about women battling poverty and sexual violence in a dilapidated housing project. “Acting has been a big sacrifice,” she told the Tribune in 1986. After appearing in the 2005 TV remake of “Kojak,” she retired from acting. “I sometimes think that if I had continued to be a teacher, I would be retired already. She was first widely known for her portrayal of Rose Maxson, the compassionate but beleaguered wife in the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1950s period drama “Fences,” part of Wilson’s 10-part Pittsburgh Cycle, an exploration of race and class, love and betrayal, across each decade of the 20th century. Instead, friends persuaded her to audition for the newly formed Negro Ensemble Company, which sought to promote a Black alternative to the White-dominated theater scene. “Metaphysically, I know why I’m playing Dr. Bessie,” she told The Washington Post. “My temperament is very close to hers. That description fits me to a T. There’s no middle ground for people like Bessie and me.” Ms. Alice’s character tries to hold the family together even as Troy reveals that another woman is about to have his child; defending himself in a meandering, self-righteous speech, he insists that he had simply wanted more out of life. It’s rare to find a marriage of any sort presented on stage with such balance.” Opening on Broadway in 1987, the play ran for more than a year, starring James Earl Jones as her husband, Troy, a bitter garbageman who played Negro League baseball before serving time in prison. I was escaping from my environment of working-class people.”

Mary Alice Dies: 'A Different World' & 'Matrix Revolutions' Actor Won ... (Deadline)

Mary Alice, an Emmy-winning actor for 'I'll Fly Away' and a Tony winner for her performance in 1987's Broadway production of August Wilson's Fences, ...

In 1976, Smith had her first breakout film role in Sparkle, playing Effie Williams, the mother of three daughters who form a Supremes-like singing group. On Broadway, Alice made her debut as a standby in 1969’s No Place To Be Somebody, then taking a starring role in a 1971 production. In 1975, she gave memorable performances on Sanford & Son, Good Times and Police Woman. Tweeted Viola Davis today, “You were one of the greatest actresses of all time!! On the big screen, Alice had roles in, among many others, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Awakenings, Malcolm X, Down in the Delta and Sunshine State. Her performance as The Oracle in 2003’s The Matrix Revolutions was nominated for a Black Reel Award. Her first screen role arrived in 1974, when she made her film debut in The Education of Sonny Carson, and within a year she was beginning what would be a long and prolific run of TV guest appearances.

A Different World, The Matrix Star Mary Alice Dies at 85 (The Root)

Every time Mary Alice was on the screen or stage, you knew something interesting was about to happen. She never played a boring character, ...

From A Different World, to The Women of Brewster Place, to Malcolm X, to her Tony-winning stage work in Fences, Mary Alice was essential to Black entertainment. Mary Alice had a regal presence that instantly made the audience sit up and pay attention. Though she suddenly moved on after Season 2, and Lettie was barely ever mentioned again, fans never forgot how Alice added a level of authenticity to the series. A round of applause for Mary Alice. Thank you legend. Every time Mary Alice was on the screen or stage, you knew something interesting was about to happen. As the Gilbert Hall dorm director, Lettie was a surrogate parent for many of the girls.

Mary Alice, Emmy- and Tony-Winning Actress, Dead at 85 (Vulture)

Mary Alice, an actress who won a Tony for her work in August Wilson's 'Fences' and an Emmy for 'I'll Fly Away,' is dead at age 85.

Alice is perhaps best remembered for originating the role of Rose in August Wilson’s 1987 play Fences, a part that would later win Viola Davis a Tony and an Oscar. “Ms. Alice’s performance emphasizes strength over self-pity, open anger over festering bitterness,” wrote theater critic Frank Rich of her work in the show. “Her first acting was in Days of Absence and Happy Endings,” wrote Bob McCann in the 2009 Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television. “For $200 a week she played three roles, and twice a week washed and ironed the cast’s laundry.” She was also known for her work as the Oracle in The Matrix Revolutions, a role in which she replaced Gloria Foster, with whom Alice had previously collaborated onstage in the 1995 production of Having Our Say: The Delaney Sisters’ First 100 Years. Alice began her career in theater while working as an elementary-school teacher.

Mary Alice, Actress in 'A Different World' and 'Sparkle,' Dies (Variety)

Mary Alice was best known for her roles as "Lettie" Bostic on "A Different World" and as Effie Williams in "Sparkle."

Born Mary Alice Smith in Indianola, Miss., she pursued acting at a very early age, starting her stage career in her hometown. In films, she appeared in “Malcolm X,” “The Inkwell,” “Down in the Delta,” “Beat Street,” “To Sleep With Anger,” “Awakenings,” “The Bonfire of the Vanities” and “Sunshine State,” among many others. In “The Matrix Revolutions,” she played the Oracle and also played the role in the video game “Enter the Matrix.”

Mary Alice, Emmy and Tony winning actress, dead at 85 (CBS News)

She won a Tony Award for her starring role in "Fences" on Broadway, and an Emmy Award for her supporting role in the TV series "I'll Fly Away."

She won an Emmy award in 1993 for her supporting role in the TV series "I'll Fly Away." She won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Rose Maxson in the Broadway production of "Fences" in 1987 before gaining even more nationwide fame playing dorm mother Lettie Bostic on the first two seasons of "A Different World." CHICAGO (CBS) -- Tony and Emmy winning actress Mary Alice, known for her roles in the Broadway production of August Wilson's "Fences" and the "Cosby Show" spinoff "A Different World," has died at age 85.