Margaret Avery - wikipedia Margaret Avery Margaret Avery Mangum, Oklahoma, United States Residence Los Angeles, California Occupation Actress Years active 1972 -- present Spouse ( s ) Robert Gordon Hunt ( 1974 -- 1980 ) Children Margaret Avery is an American actress and singer. She began her career appearing on stage and later has had starring roles in films include Cool Breeze ( 1972 ), Which Way Is Up ? ( 1977 ), Scott Joplin ( 1977 ), and The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh ( 1979 ). Avery is best known for her performance as Shug Avery in the 1985 period drama film The Color Purple for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She continued appearing in films include Blueberry Hill ( 1988 ), White Man 's Burden ( 1995 ), Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins ( 2008 ), and Meet the Browns ( 2008 ). In 2013, Avery began starring as Helen Patterson, lead character 's mother, in the BET drama series Being Mary Jane. Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Filmography 4.1 Film 4.2 Television 5 References 6 External links Early life Margaret Avery was born in Mangum, Oklahoma and raised in San Diego, California, where she attended Point Loma High School. She then attended San Francisco State University, where in 1985, she earned her degree in education. While working as a substitute teacher in Los Angeles, Avery began making singing and acting appearances. Career Avery is best known for her role as Shug Avery in the 1985 film The Color Purple. Her performance in this screen adaptation of Alice Walker 's prize - winning novel The Color Purple earned Avery an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Among the plays Avery appeared in were Revolution and The Sistuhs. In 1972 for her performance in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie ?, she received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress. In the television movie Something Evil ( 1972 ), a horror story with Sandy Dennis and Darren McGavin, Avery was directed by Steven Spielberg. That same year she made her theatrical motion picture debut as Lark in the MGM crime / drama Cool Breeze with Thalmus Rasulala and Judy Pace. In this blaxploitation remake of The Asphalt Jungle, Avery played the Marilyn Monroe part. The following year she played a prostitute in Magnum Force, the second in the series of Dirty Harry films starring Clint Eastwood, in which her character was murdered by her pimp, played by Albert Popwell. The character was killed through the pouring drain cleaner down the victim 's throat which was said to have inspired the notorious Hi - Fi Murders case in 1974. In the 1977 film Which Way Is Up ?, directed by Michael Schultz, Avery gave a comedic performance as Annie Mae, the wife of Richard Pryor 's character. That same year, she played Belle Joplin, wife of the ragtime composer Scott Joplin, opposite Billy Dee Williams in the title role. In 1992 Avery starred in The Jacksons : An American Dream as Martha Scruse, mother of Katherine Jackson, who was played by Angela Bassett. The two would later star together in Meet the Browns. She has also made numerous TV series guest appearances, including The New Dick Van Dyke Show ; Kojak ; Sanford and Son ; Kolchak : The Night Stalker ; A.E.S. Hudson Street ; Murder, She Wrote ; Miami Vice ; Spenser : For Hire ; The Cosby Show ; Walker, Texas Ranger ; and JAG. In 2008, Avery played Mama Jenkins in Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, opposite Martin Lawrence and James Earl Jones, and Sarah Brown in Tyler Perry 's Meet the Browns, which also stars Angela Bassett. Currently, Avery plays recurring character Helen Patterson in BET 's hit series Being Mary Jane. Personal life In January 1974, Margaret Avery married Robert Gordon Hunt. They have one daughter, Aisha Hunt, and divorced in 1980. Margaret Avery lives in Los Angeles, and remains active in the show business industry. While continuing to act, she also works with at - risk teenagers and battered women of Greater Los Angeles. Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1972 Something Evil Irene 1972 Cool Breeze Lark 1972 Terror House Edwina 1973 An Eye for an Eye Nurse 1973 Magnum Force Prostitute 1973 An Eye for an Eye Nurse 1973 Hell Up in Harlem Sister Jennifer 1976 Louis Armstrong - Chicago Style Alma Rae NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special 1977 Which Way Is Up ? Annie Mae 1977 Scott Joplin Belle Joplin Nominated -- NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture 1979 Fish That Saved Pittsburgh, The The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh Toby Millman 1980 Sky Is Gray, The The Sky Is Gray Rosemary 1980 Lathe of Heaven, The The Lathe of Heaven Heather LeLache 1985 Color Purple, The The Color Purple Shug Avery Nominated -- Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Blueberry Hill Hattie Cale 1989 Riverbend Bell Coleman 1989 Single Women Married Men Grace Williams 1990 Heat Wave Roxie Turpin 1990 Return of Superfly, The The Return of Superfly Francine 1993 Lightning in a Bottle Dr. Sierheed 1993 Night Trap Miss Sadie Cyborg 3 : The Recycler Doc Edford 1995 Set - Up, The The Set - Up Olivia Dubois 1995 White Man 's Burden Megan Thomas 1998 Love Kills Moon 2002 Waitin ' to Live Pearline Loggins 2002 Second to Die Insurance agent 2007 Lord Help Us Dorinda Thomas 2007 Exodus Robbed Tourist 2008 Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins Mama Jenkins 2008 Meet the Browns Sarah Brown 2009 Extrospection Anna 2018 Proud Mary Mary 's mother Television Year Title Role Notes 1973 The New Dick Van Dyke Show Pam Harris / Nurse Wilkinson Episode : `` What Your Best Friend Does n't Know '' 1973 Ironside ' Bartender Episode : `` The Last Payment '' Kojak Lula Episode : `` You Ca n't Tell a Hurt Man How to Holler '' Marcus Welby, M.D. Julie Episode : `` The 266 Days '' Sanford and Son Denise Episode : `` Strange Bedfellows '' Kolchak : The Night Stalker Ruth Van Galen Episode : `` The Sentry '' 1982 The Powers of Matthew Star April Episode : `` Accused '' For Us, the Living Dottie Rags to Riches Celia Richards ( Cee Cee Smith ) Miami Vice Sally Cordova Episode : `` The Afternoon Plane '' 1992 Jacksons : An American Dream, The The Jacksons : An American Dream Martha Scruse 1992 The Cosby Show Leah 1998 Wie stark muss eine Liebe sein Mary McMillian German TV 2012 Single Ladies Josephine Episode : `` Ex Factor '' 2013 -- present Being Mary Jane Helen Patterson Recurring Role References Jump up ^ `` Actress Gains Visibility, Respect With ` Purple ` ''. Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 2010 - 12 - 04. ^ Jump up to : Brumburgh, Gary. `` IMDb Mini Biography ''. Jump up ^ `` Celebrate SF State and its extraordinary alumni ''. San Francisco State University. September 2014. Jump up ^ O'Donnell, Owen ; Steen, Sara ( 1990 ). `` Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television ''. Gale. p. 27. Jump up ^ Los Angeles Times, March 20, 1974, `` 27 Win Critics ' Circle Honors, '' p. E 1. Jump up ^ Kinder, Gary ( 1982 ). Victim : The Other Side of Murder. Delacorte Press. ISBN 0385291051. Jump up ^ Douglas, John E., and Olshaker, Mark ( 1999 ). The Anatomy of Motive : The FBI 's Legendary Mindhunter Explores the Key to Understanding and Catching Violent Criminals. New York : Scribner. pp. 91 -- 109. ISBN 978 - 0 - 684 - 84598 - 2. CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list ( link ) Jump up ^ `` Being Mary Jane ''. IMDB. Jump up ^ N'Duka, Amanda ( 5 April 2017 ). `` Margaret Avery, Xander Berkeley & More Join Taraji P. Henson In ' Proud Mary ' ''. Retrieved 9 July 2017. External links Margaret Avery on IMDb Margaret Avery at AllMovie Margaret Avery at TV.com VIAF : 72092587 LCCN : n85151555 ISNI : 0000 0000 7730 2657 GND : 1117122085 SUDOC : 068872615 BNF : cb14151569h ( data ) IATH : w64p1z6m Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Margaret_Avery&oldid=806143435 '' Categories : Actresses from San Diego African - American female singers Musicians from San Diego Point Loma High School alumni San Francisco State University alumni Living people People from Mangum, Oklahoma Actresses from Oklahoma African - American actresses American actresses American television actresses American film actresses American stage actresses 20th - century American actresses 21st - century American actresses Singers from California Hidden categories : CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list Articles with hCards All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from June 2017 Articles with permanently dead external links Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC - ID identifiers Year of birth missing ( living people ) Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch فارسی Français 한국어 Italiano עברית 日本 語 Polski Português Русский Simple English Suomi Tagalog اردو Edit links This page was last edited on 20 October 2017, at 00 : 15. 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Question: who played shug avery in the color purple
Answer: Margaret Avery