Mary Alice Was, Is, and Always Will Be
Reflecting on Mary Alice’s career and life
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In a 1990 interview with the New York Newsday, Mary Alice (d. July 27, 2022) stated she was hoping to land a ‘substantial role in film and television’ as she had found in the theater: “My career has been wonderful in one sense but there's such a difference between the recognition you get onstage and working in films and TV.”
A remembrance of Mary Alice’s life, like many Black actresses of her caliber and craft, could be shaped by the plight of constantly wanting more in a world that is not quite ready for you. The dichotomy that Mary Alice’s career exists in is one of intense familiarity to students of Black cinema: great talent known among those who have their eyes open.
How do you calculate the tally on a life and talent that looms this large? Mary Alice – an effortless, sweetly coated name that carries delicate grace and familiarity – reflected the tonality of her name to the texture of her acting. Such was her ability to shape the craft beyond the confines of what gentleness typically is. Alice’s style of quiet and refined strength gave her space to shapeshift on-screen in a rhythmically commanding timbre. A rare gift that allowed us all to grasp glimpses of ourselves with the mirror she held.
Watch every Mary Alice film on Black Film Archive.
Mary Alice Smith was born on December 3, 1941, in Indianola, Mississippi, and raised in Chicago. The youngest of five children, her first impulses for acting were formed in solitude away from her large family. A former schoolteacher in Chicago, she believed early on that her destiny was to teach. While working as an educator, she became involved in acting by contributing on and off the stage for local productions in Douglas Turner Ward’s Chicago productions in 1966.
[Acting] was escapism. Escape. That's why I first went into it. I was escaping from my working class people. We never lacked for anything. But my parents got up before the sun rose and worked all day. My father was tired. My mother had to cook. When I went to the movies, those people on the screen didn't have to work,” Alice told the Chicago Tribune in 1986.
Convinced by Ward to pursue acting full time, she moved to New York City In July 1967 and formally began studying as an actor with Lloyd Richards at Ward’s newly formed Negro Ensemble Company.
The thing I noticed right away was her energy, her imagination. The power she conveys on stage was always there. It was bursting out. All it took was honing it and controlling it. But she had all the talent going in,” Richards told New York Newsday.
Her talent guided Alice to becoming an active player in off-Broadway productions of the late 60s and early 70s like Wole Soyinka’s The Trials of Brother Jero and The Strong Breed (1967); Miss Julie (1973), House Party (1973), Terraces (1974), Cockfight (1977), Nongogo (1978, Obie Award), Julius Caesar (1979, Obie Award) among others.
In 1969 she had her Broadway debut in the original production of No Place to Be Somebody.
The Education of Sonny Carson (1974) — a Black boy-to-man story about Sonny Carson’s growing consciousness — marked Mary Alice’s on screen debut in the role of Moms. That role was quickly followed by memorable television and film performances in The Sty of the Blind Pig (1974), Sparkle (1976), Just An Old Sweet Song (1976), Good Times, and Sanford and Son. In Mary Alice’s hands, Sparkle’s Effie transforms from what could’ve been a humdrum by-the-book performance to a quiet yet dynamic vision of Black womanhood on screen. A feat she repeated throughout her filmography.
Her screen career, concurrent with her stage acting, was marked by using herself as an instrument. By having complete control over her mind, body and vocal inflection, Mary Alice delivered performances rarely seen stage, screen, or otherwise.
When I'm acting, it's as if all the parts of myself come together. I feel whole inside when I'm working in theatre, even in rehearsals, but especially during performances. No matter how I'm feeling before-I may be out of kilter, out of sorts but during the performance, in using myself, I begin to feel whole. Also, acting has helped me know myself more. It's kept me honest.”
In 1985, Mary Alice’s acting career took a turning point when she debuted the role of Rose Maxon in Fences at the Yale Repertory Theatre. The play opened on Broadway in March 1987 and was immediately a critical and commercial success. On Mary Alice’s performance opposite James Earl Jones, the Village Voice writes: “That she can rivet an audience even in that position is all I need to say about the power of her presence, and the moments when she turns it on facing downstage center are jaw-droppers." The production won the Tony Award for Best Play, Best Leading Actor in a Play (James Earl Jones), Best Direction of a Play (Lloyd Richards), and Mary Alice won Best Featured Actress in a Play. The second Black woman to win in the category.
From the success of her Tony Award, she was able to be financially stable for the first time in her 20-year acting career and was cast as the unforgettable Lettie Bostic in TV’s A Different World. Her other significant screen credits include the luminous The Women of Brewster’s Place (1989), Down in the Delta (1998), Charles Burnett’s critically acclaimed To Sleep with Anger (1990), and The Matrix: Revolutions (2003), among others (listed in full below)1. The decorated actress also received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Support Actress in a television drama series for her stint on I’ll Fly Away, as an eccentric but loved caregiver.
Her stage and screen work continued into her final credit in 2005, TV’s Kojak.
Mary Alice always was and always will be an undeniable on screen force that will continue to guide the future of Black performances on stage and screen to those who have their eyes open.
I chose this profession because I feel this is how I can fulfill my service as a human being—communicating the human condition. My desire is to create interesting and complex characters on film and television."
This legend with two first names. Somehow, that seemed appropriate as her performances simultaneously reflected regal in the everywoman. So blessed to have witnessed such extraordinary talent. May she Rest In Peace.
So appreciate this compilation, Maya! May she rest in power...forever our Oracle. <3