Mary Alice

Mary Alice Smith (born December 3, 1941),[3] known professionally as Mary Alice, is an African American film, television, and stage actress. Alice has appeared in over fifty television shows and films in her career. Alice is best known for her roles as Leticia "Lettie" Bostic on NBC's A Different World (1987–1989) and Effie Williams in the 1976 musical drama Sparkle. Alice has also performed on the stage. She received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her appearance in the 1987 production of August Wilson's Fences.[4][5]
== Life and career ==
Born Mary Alice Smith in Indianola, Mississippi, Alice is the daughter of Ozelar (née Jurnakin) and Sam Smith.[6] Alice showed an early and natural ability for acting, and began her stage career in her hometown.[7] Her family moved from Mississippi to Chicago when she was two years old. Mary Alice graduated from Chicago Teacher's Union, now known as Chicago State University, and taught at an elementary school.[8] She returned to acting in the mid-1960s, through community theater, and appeared in three Douglass Turner Ward's plays, including Days of Absence and Happy Endings. Mary Alice also washed the cast's laundry for a salary of $200 a week.[9]
She did some acting in New York City during the late 1960s and early 1970s, performing in multiple productions at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in Manhattan's East Village between 1969 and 1973. Her first production at La MaMa was Adrienne Kennedy's A Rat's Mass in September 1969.[10] She reprised her role as Sister Rat in the October 1969 production,[11] and again in the January 1971 production.[12] All three productions were directed by Seth Allen. In 1970, Mary Alice performed in Ed Bullins' Street Sounds, directed by Hugh Gittens.[13] She later performed in Lamar Alford's Thoughts in December 1972[14] and January 1973.[15]
Mary Alice made her screen début in the 1974 film The Education of Sonny Carson, and later appeared in the television shows Police Woman and Sanford and Son. She played Ellie Grant Hubbard on the soap opera All My Childrenduring the mid-1980s, and co–starred in A Different World as Leticia 'Lettie' Bostic from the series' start in 1987 until the end of the second season in 1989.[7] Mary Alice won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1993 for I'll Fly Away.[7] Her other film credits include Malcolm X (1992), The Inkwell (1994), and Down in the Delta (1998).[7]
In 2000, she was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.[16] Mary Alice replaced Gloria Foster as the Oracle in the film The Matrix Revolutions[17]and the video game Enter The Matrix after Foster, who originated the role, died in 2001.
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1974	The Education of Sonny Carson 	Moms 	
1974	The Sty of the Blind Pig 	Alberta Warren 	television movie
1976	Just an Old Sweet Song 	Helen Mayfield 	television movie
1976	Sparkle 	Effie Williams 	
1979	Lawman Without a Gun 	Minnie Hayward 	television movie
1981	The Color of Friendship 	Mrs. Garth 	
1983	The Brass Ring 	Mrs. Hauser 	television movie
1984	Beat Street 	Cora Kirkland 	
1984	Concealed Enemies 	Edith Murray 	
1984	Teachers 	Linda Ganz 	
1985	Charlotte Forten's Mission: Experiment in Freedom	Blind Lily 	
1990	To Sleep with Anger 	Suzie 	nominated for Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead
1990	The Bonfire of the Vanities 	Annie Lamb 	
1990	Awakenings 	Nurse Margaret 	
1992	Malcolm X 	School teacher 	
1993	A Perfect World 	Lottie 	
1993	Laurel Avenue 	Maggie Arnett 	television movie; nominated for CableACE Award for Best Actress in a Movie or Miniseries
1993	Life with Mikey 	Mrs. Gordon 	
1994	The Inkwell 	Evelyn 	
1994	The Vernon Johns Story 	Altona 	television movie
1995	Heading Home 	N/A 	
1995	Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder 	Adele Thompson 	television movie
1996	Bed of Roses 	Alice 	
1998	Down in the Delta 	Rosa Lynn Sinclair	
1999	Catfish in Black Bean Sauce 	Dolores Williams 	
1999	The Wishing Tree 	Mattie 	
2000	The Photographer 	Violet 	
2001	The Last Brickmaker in America 	Dorothy Cobb 	television movie
2002	Sunshine State 	Mrs. Eunice Stokes	
2002	The Life 	Emiline Crane 	short film
2003	The Matrix Revolutions 	The Oracle 	nominated for Black Reel Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress
=== Television ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1975 	Police Woman 	Marnie 	episode: "Target Black"
1975 	Sanford and Son 	Frances Victor 	2 episodes
1975 	Good Times 	Loretta 	episode: "The Baby"
1975 	The Family Holvak 	Samantha Wilson 	episode: "The Tribute"
1976 	Insight 	Karen Fuller 	episode: "Juvie"
1976 	Serpico 	Angel 	episode: "The Traitor in Our Midst"
1976 	Visions 	Evelyn Burrell 	episode: "Scenes from the Middle Class"
1980 	All My Children 	Ellie Grant Hubbard 	unknown episode(s)
1987–1989	A Different World 	Leticia "Lettie" Bostic	25 episodes
1989 	The Women of Brewster Place	Fannie Michael 	2 episodes
1990 	L.A. Law 	Maxine Manley 	episode: "Watts a Matter?"
1992 	I'll Fly Away 	Marguerite Peck 	7 episodes; Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
1993 	Law & Order 	Virginia Bryan 	episode: "Mother Love"
1994 	Great Performances 	N/A 	episode: "Paddy Chayefsky's 'The Mother'"
1997 	Orleans 	Ella Clark 	episode: "Baby-Sitting"
1999 	Cosby 	Loretta 	3 episodes
2000 	Touched by an Angel 	Georgia Bishop 	episode: "God Bless the Child"
2000 	Providence 	Abby Franklin 	episode: "The Gift"
2001 	Soul Food 	Mrs. Pettaway 	episode: "Sex and Money"
2002 	Oz 	Eugenia Hill 	episode: "Visitation"
2004 	Line of Fire 	Jackie Simon 	episode: "The Senator"
2004 	The Jury 	Elaine Nebatoff 	episode: "Memories"
2005 	Kojak 	Joyce 	episode: "All That Glitters"
== Awards ==
; Tony Awards
* 1987 Best Featured Actress in a Play for Fences
Nominations:
* 1995 Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for Having Our Say
; Drama Desk Award
* 1987 Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play - Fences
Nominations:
* 1995 Outstanding Actress in a Play - Having Our Say	
; Emmy Awards
* 1993 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for I'll Fly Away
Nominations:
* 1992 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for I'll Fly Away
; Independent Spirit Award Nomination
* 1991 Best Female Lead for To Sleep with Anger
; Black Reel Award Nomination
* 2004 Best Supporting Actress for The Matrix Revolutions
; CableACE Award
* 1994 Best Actress in a Movie or Miniseries for Laurel Avenue