Clarice Taylor (September 20, 1917 – May 30, 2011) was an American stage, film and television actress. She is best known for playing Cousin Emma on ''

Sanford and Son ''Sanford and Son'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977. It was based on the British sitcom '' Steptoe and Son'', which initially aired on BBC One in the Unit ...

'' and the mother of Cliff Huxtable Anna Huxtable on ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...

''. and Mrs. Brooks in ''

Five on the Black Hand Side ''Five on the Black Hand Side'' is a 1973 African American comedy film based on the 1969 play of the same name by Charlie L. Russell. It was shot in Los Angeles, California. Leonard Jackson appeared as John Henry Brooks. He was cast in Steven ...

'' (1973).

Biography

Born in

Buckingham County, Virginia Buckingham County is a rural United States county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and containing the geographic center of the state. Buckingham County is part of the Piedmont region of Virginia, and the county seat is Buckingham. ...

but raised in

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater H ...

, Taylor was best known for her recurring role on television on ''

'' as Dr. Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable's (

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

) mother, Anna Huxtable. She was nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

for the role. She was also a regular on ''

Nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

'', played Harriet on ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000 ...

'', and appeared as Grady's cousin Emma on ''

''. Taylor started working in the theatre—with the

American Negro Theatre The American Negro Theatre (ANT) was co-founded on June 5, 1940 by playwright Abram Hill and actor Frederick O'Neal. Determined to build a "people's theatre", they were inspired by the Federal Theatre Project's Negro Unit in Harlem and by W. E. ...

—at a time when there were few opportunities for

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

actors and comedians. To support herself she followed in the footsteps of her father, Leon B. Taylor, Sr., and went to work for the

U.S. Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...

. In the 1960s she got her big break that enabled her to act full-time. Taylor was one of the founding members of the

Negro Ensemble Company The Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) is a New York City-based theater company and workshop established in 1967 by playwright Douglas Turner Ward, producer-actor Robert Hooks, and theater manager Gerald S. Krone, with funding from the Ford Foundation ...

, headquartered in New York's East Village on

St. Mark's Place 8th Street is a street in the New York City borough of Manhattan that runs from Sixth Avenue to Third Avenue, and also from Avenue B to Avenue D; its addresses switch from West to East as it crosses Fifth Avenue. Between Third Avenue and Ave ...

Film work

While working with the NEC she got her first offer of a movie role in '' Change of Mind'' (1969). Her next film role was as Minnie in

Otto Preminger Otto Ludwig Preminger ( , ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gai ...

's '' Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon'' (1970). In 1971, she played Birdie in

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' Do ...

's ''

Play Misty For Me ''Play Misty for Me'' is a 1971 American psychological thriller film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, his directorial debut. Jessica Walter and Donna Mills co-star. The screenplay, written by regular Eastwood collaborators Jo Heims and ...

'', and appeared as Mrs McKay in '' Such Good Friends'' the same year. In 1973, she brought a role she had pioneered off-Broadway to film, playing Gladys Brooks in ''

''. Her later films included '' Nothing Lasts Forever'' (1984), ''

Sommersby ''Sommersby'' is a 1993 American romantic period drama film directed by Jon Amiel from a screenplay written by Nicholas Meyer and Sarah Kernochan, adapted from the historical account of the 16th century French peasant Martin Guerre. Based on th ...

'' (1993), and ''

Smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-produc ...

'' (1995). Two of her most well-known recurring characters in television were in ''

Sanford & Son ''Sanford and Son'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977. It was based on the British sitcom ''Steptoe and Son'', which initially aired on BBC One in the United ...

'' (1972), where she played Cousin Emma, and ''

'' (1984), where she played Anna Huxtable, Cliff's mother.

Stage

Taylor appeared in ''

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ...

'' as Addaperle, the Good Witch of the North, ''

Purlie ''Purlie'' is a musical with a book by Ossie Davis, Philip Rose, and Peter Udell, lyrics by Udell and music by Gary Geld. It is based on Davis's 1961 play ''Purlie Victorious'', which was later made into the 1963 film '' Gone Are the Days!'' and ...

'' the Broadway play as Idella Landy. Her most recent performance was in a touring production of her one-woman show, ''Moms'', for which she won an

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the ...

in 1987 for best performance by an actress. Her last film appearance was a small role in

Wayne Wang Wayne Wang (; born January 12, 1949) is a Hong Kong–American director, producer, and screenwriter. Considered a pioneer of Asian-American cinema, he was one of the first Chinese-American filmmakers to gain a major foothold in Hollywood ...

's film ''

''.

Death

Clarice Taylor died in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from po ...

from congestive heart failure, aged 93. She is survived by her two adopted sons, William and James Thomas, and extended family.

Partial filmography

*The New Girl in the Office (1960) *'' Change of Mind'' (1969) - Rose Landis *'' Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon'' (1970) - Minnie *''

'' (1971) - Birdie *'' Such Good Friends'' (1971) - Mrs. McKay *''

'' (1973) - Mrs. Brooks *''The Torture of Mothers'' (1980) *'' Nothing Lasts Forever'' (1984) - Lu *''

'' (1993) - Esther *''

'' (1995) - Grandma Ethel

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Clarice 1917 births 2011 deaths African-American actresses American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Actresses from New York City Actresses from Virginia Obie Award recipients People from Buckingham County, Virginia People from Harlem Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women