- Margaret Avery
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Margaret Avery Born January 20, 1944
Mangum, Oklahoma, U.S.Occupation Actress, singer Years active 1972–present Spouse Robert Gordyn Hunt (1973–1980) Margaret Avery (born January 20, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Shug in The Color Purple (1985).[1]
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Early life
Born in Mangum, Oklahoma, she was raised in San Diego, California, where she attended Point Loma High School. Avery then attended San Francisco State University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in education. While working as a substitute teacher in Los Angeles, Avery began making singing appearances and acting on the stage.
Career
Among the plays she appeared in were Revolution, and Sistuhs. For her performance in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? (1973) she received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for "Performance In A Major Role."[2]
In the television movie Something Evil (1972), a horror story with Sandy Dennis and Darren McGavin, she 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 (1973), the second in the series of Dirty Harry films starring Clint Eastwood, in which the character she played was murdered by her pimp (played by Albert Popwell) by having drain cleaner poured down her throat. This act of killing was said to have inspired the notorious Hi-Fi Murders case in 1974.
In Universal's Which Way Is Up? (1977), directed by Michael Schultz, Avery turned in a comedic performance as Annie Mae, the wife of Richard Pryor. That same year, she played Belle Joplin, wife of the ragtime composer Scott Joplin, opposite Billy Dee Williams in the title role.
Avery scored a major success with her role as the sultry and spirited Blues singer, Shug Avery, in Spielberg's The Color Purple (1985) opposite Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover. Her performance in this screen adaptation of Alice Walker's prize-winning novel of the same title earned Avery an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
In 1992 Avery starred in The Jacksons: An American Dream as Martha Scruse, mother of Katherine Jackson, who was played by Angela Basset. 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.
Margaret Avery lives in Los Angeles, and is active in the show business industry. While continuing to act, she also works with at-risk teenagers and battered women of Greater Los Angeles.
Personal life
She married Robert Gordon Hunt in January 1974. They were divorced in 1980 and have one daughter.[citation needed]
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes 1972 Cool Breeze Lark 1972 Terror House Edwina 1973 Magnum Force prostitute 1973 Hell Up in Harlem Sister Jennifer 1975 The Psychopath nurse 1977 Which Way Is Up? Annie Mae 1977 Scott Joplin Belle Joplin 1979 The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh Toby Millman 1985 The Color Purple Shug Avery Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress 1989 Riverbend Bell Coleman 1990 The Return of Superfly Francine 1993 Lightning in a Bottle Dr. Sierheed 1993 Night Trap Miss Sadie 1994 Cyborg 3: The Recycler Doc Edford 1995 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 Direct-to-video 2008 Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins Mama Jenkins 2008 Meet the Browns Sarah Brown 2009 Extrospection Anna Television Year Title Role Notes 1972 Something Evil Irene 1976 Louis Armstrong - Chicago Style Alma Rae 1980 The Sky Is Gray Rosemary 1980 The Lathe of Heaven Heather LeLache 1983 For Us, the Living Dottie 1989 Single Women Married Men Grace Williams 1990 Riverbend Bell Coleman 1990 Heat Wave Roxie Turpin 1992 The Jacksons: An American Dream Martha Scruse 1992 "Clair's Reunion" Leah 1998 Wie stark muss eine Liebe sein Mary McMillian German TV References
- ^ "Actress Gains Visibility, Respect With `Purple`". Sun Sentinel. http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-03-06/features/8601140491_1_margaret-avery-color-didn-t-act. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
- ^ Los Angeles Times, Mar. 20, 1974, "27 Win Critics' Circle Honors," p. E 1.
External links
- Margaret Avery Official Website
- Margaret Avery at the Internet Movie Database
- Margaret Avery at AllRovi
- Margaret Avery at TV.com
Categories:- American film actors
- American television actors
- American stage actors
- African American actors
- Actors from California
- American female singers
- People from San Diego, California
- Point Loma High School alumni
- San Francisco State University alumni
- 1944 births
- Living people
- People from Greer County, Oklahoma
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