Clarice Taylor

Clarice Taylor was an American actress of stage, film and television who began with the American Negro Theatre when opportunities for African-American performers were scarce. Born in Buckingham County, Virginia, and raised in Harlem, New York, she supported herself early on at the U.S. Post Office before a break in the 1960s let her act full time. She became a founding member of the Negro Ensemble Company. On television she played Hope Stark on The Doctors in 1968 and recurred on Sesame Street as Grace, and she was known for Cousin Emma on Sanford and Son and Anna Huxtable on The Cosby Show, earning a 1986 Emmy nomination. Her films included Play Misty for Me (1971), Five on the Black Hand Side (1973), Nothing Lasts Forever (1984) and Sommersby (1993). On stage she appeared in The Wiz and Purlie, and her one-woman show Moms won a 1987 Obie Award. She died in 2011.