Mary Alice
Actor
Biography
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
Awakenings
as Nurse Margaret 1990
Malcolm X
as School Teacher 1992
A Perfect World
as Lottie 1993
The Bonfire of the Vanities
as Annie Lamb 1990
Life with Mikey
as Mrs. Gordon 1993
Bed of Roses
as Alice 1996
Beat Street
as Cora 1984
Teachers
as Linda Ganz 1984
To Sleep with Anger
as Suzie 1990
The Matrix Recalibrated
as Self 2004
Sunshine State
as Eunice Stokes 2002
Down in the Delta
as Rosa Lynn Sinclair 1998
Sparkle
as Effie 1976
The Women of Brewster Place
as Fannie Michael 1989
The Inkwell
as Evelyn 1994
Catfish in Black Bean Sauce
as Dolores Williams 1999