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Actor · Acting

Mary Alice

Born 1936-12-03
Died 2022-07-27
📍 Indianola, Mississippi, USA

Mary Alice was born on December 3, 1936 in Indianola, Mississippi, USA to parents Ozelar Jurnakin (Smith) and Sam Smith.

She was an actress, known for The Matrix Revolutions (2003), Awakenings (1990) and Malcolm X (1992). She taught in Elementary School before her acting career took off. When she was still a struggling actress doing stage plays, she made a living doing her castmate's laundry for a salary of $200 a week. She was a lifelong liberal Democrat, feminist, and civil rights activist. Was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2000. She retired from acting in 2005.

She died of natural causes on July 27, 2022 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. Upon her death, she was buried with her siblings at Oak Wood Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois, in regard for her last wishes.

Filmography 54

Kojak
as Joyce
2005
The Burly Man Chronicles
2004
The Jury
2004
The Matrix Recalibrated
as Self
2004
What I Want My Words to Do to You
as Self
2003
The Matrix Revolutions
as The Oracle
2003
Sunshine State
as Eunice Stokes
2002
The Last Brickmaker in America
as Dorothy Cobb
2001
Soul Food
as Mrs. Pettaway
2000
The Photographer
as Violet
2000
Catfish in Black Bean Sauce
as Dolores Williams
1999
Providence
as Abby Franklin
1999
The Wishing Tree
as Mattie
1999
Down in the Delta
as Rosa Lynn Sinclair
1998
Oz
as Eugenia Hill
1997
Cosby
1996
Bed of Roses
as Alice
1996
Heading Home
as Mary Jones
1995
Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder
1995
The Mother
as Black Lady
1994
Touched by an Angel
as Georgia Bishop
1994
The Inkwell
as Evelyn
1994
The Vernon Johns Story
as Altona
1994
A Perfect World
as Lottie
1993
Laurel Avenue
as Maggie Arnett
1993
Life with Mikey
as Mrs. Gordon
1993
Malcolm X
as School Teacher
1992
I'll Fly Away
as Marguerite Peck
1991
I'll Fly Away
1991
Performance
as Black lady
1991
The Bonfire of the Vanities
as Annie Lamb
1990
Awakenings
as Nurse Margaret
1990
To Sleep with Anger
as Suzie
1990
Law & Order
as Virginia Bryan
1990
The Women of Brewster Place
as Fannie Michael
1989
The Women of Brewster Place
as Fannie Michael
1989
A Different World
as Lettie Bostic
1987
L.A. Law
as Maxine Manley
1986
Charlotte Forten's Mission: Experiment in Freedom
as Blind Lily
1985
Teachers
as Linda Ganz
1984
Beat Street
as Cora
1984
The Killing Floor
as Lilah Dean
1984
The Brass Ring
as Mrs. Hauser
1983
A House Divided: Denmark Vesey's Rebellion
as Beck
1982
Lawman Without a Gun
as Minnie Hayward
1979
Just an Old Sweet Song
as Helen Mayfield
1976
Sparkle
as Effie
1976
Police Woman
1974
The Education of Sonny Carson
as Moms
1974
Sty of the Blind Pig
as Alberta Warren
1974
Good Times
1974
Sanford and Son
1972
Great Performances
1971
Green Acres
1965