Beah Richards

Beah Richards was an American actress who worked on stage, in film, and on television, starting in 1955 with a turn as an 84-year-old grandmother in Take a Giant Step, staged off-Broadway. Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and a graduate of Dillard University, she moved to New York City two years later and went on to appear in the original Broadway runs of Purlie Victorious, The Miracle Worker, and A Raisin in the Sun; her work in the 1965 production of The Amen Corner brought a Tony Award nomination. She was often cast as mothers and grandmothers. Her films included In the Heat of the Night (1967), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), which earned her Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, Hurry Sundown (1967), The Great White Hope (1970), and Beloved (1998). She won two Emmy Awards for guest roles on Frank's Place and The Practice, and also wrote poetry and plays.