Mary Alice Wiki – Mary Alice Biography
Actress Mary Alice, Tony and Emmy winner, has passed away. She passed away at her New York home, according to a representative for the NYPD. She was 85 years old.
Mary Alice Smith, also known as Mary Alice, was a theater, film, and television actress from the United States. Alice was well-known for her roles as Effie Williams in the 1976 musical drama Sparkle and Leticia “Lettie” Bostic in the NBC sitcom A Different World. In 1987, Alice appeared in the stage version of August Wilson’s Fences, for which she won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.
Mary, who was raised in Indianola, Mississippi, had a unique career path. She was born in Chicago and spent her early years teaching before deciding to pursue acting in the mid-1960s. In 1969’s No Place To Be Somebody, she made her Broadway debut. She would go on to work in theater over the decades in addition to her TV and film careers.
She reached a significant milestone on Broadway in 1987 when she won a Tony for her performance in Fences. The seasoned performer was admitted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2000. Since 2005, Mary has been retired.
Mary had already received two awards: a Tony for her work as Rose Maxon in the 1987 Broadway version of August Wilson’s Fences, and an Emmy for her appearance in the early 1990s drama series I’ll Fly Away.
She was also notable for her performance as Effie Williams in the musical drama Sparkle in 1976. She appeared in a sequence with Keanu Reeves in the 2003 sequel to The Matrix, Revolutions, as an oracle.
At her home in Manhattan, Alice passed away on July 27, 2022, from natural causes. The New York Police Department informed Deadline of the actress’s passing. However, there are currently no confirmed specifics regarding how she passed away. Many of Mary’s friends and colleagues posted their condolences on Twitter after learning of her loss.
Rest In Peace Mary Alice pic.twitter.com/CPhY6yvEwJ
— Mark Hartman (@MarkHartm) July 29, 2022
Ashley Clark wrote:
There’s an absolutely incredible montage at the culmination of Malcolm X, one of the best filmmaking flourishes of Lee’s career, and it’s enriched by the sudden appearance of Mary Alice as a schoolteacher—what presence. RIP.
Wendell Pierce wrote:
Mary Alice was an intense,ferociously creative, profoundly authentic artist. Her spirit of expression was infectious. An icon of the craft. I saw her in the original Broadway production of FENCES. A tour de force performance matched by none.Transcendental. Once in a lifetime. RIP
philip lewis wrote:
Mary Alice, known for her roles as “Lettie” on A Different World and Effie Williams in Sparkle, has died, one of her close friends tells me.
“We are all very sad at the loss.”
Colman Domingo wrote:
A shoulder we all stood on. A round of applause for Mary Alice. Thank you legend. Rest Easy.
Viola Davis wrote:
RIP Mary Alice…the original Rose Maxson. You were one of the greatest actresses of all time!! Thank you for the work, inspiration and thank you for Rose. Godspeed Queen
maya cade wrote:
rest in peace to mary alice, the unforgettable and undeniable on screen force.
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