Mary Alice Smith (December 3, 1936 – July 27, 2022), known professionally as Mary Alice, was an American television, film, and stage actress. Alice was known for her roles as Leticia "Lettie" Bostic on the sitcom ''

A Different World ''A Different World'' is an American sitcom television series and a spin-off of '' The Cosby Show''. It aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987, to July 9, 1993. The series originally centered on Denise Huxtable ( Lisa Bonet) an ...

'' (1987–1989) and Effie Williams in the 1976 musical drama '' Sparkle'', and won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her recurring role on the series '' I'll Fly Away''. Alice also performed on the stage, and received a

Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play The Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actresses for quality supporting roles in a Broadway theatre, ...

for her appearance in the 1987 production of August Wilson's '' Fences''.

Early life and education

Born Mary Alice Smith in Indianola, Mississippi, Alice was the daughter of Ozelar (née Jurnakin/Journakin) and Sam Smith. She showed an early and natural ability for acting, and began her stage career in her hometown. Her family moved from Mississippi to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

when she was two years old. She graduated from Chicago Teacher's College (now known as Chicago State University), and taught at an

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

Career

Mary Alice returned to acting in the mid-1960s through community theater and appeared in three Douglass Turner Ward's plays, including ''Days of Absence'' and ''Happy Endings''. Mary Alice also washed the cast's laundry for a salary of $200 a week. She did some acting in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

during the late 1960s and early 1970s, performing in multiple productions at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in Manhattan's East Village between 1969 and 1973. Her first production at La MaMa was Adrienne Kennedy's '' A Rat's Mass'' in September 1969. She reprised her role as Sister Rat in the October 1969 production, and again in the January 1971 production. All three productions were directed by Seth Allen. In 1970, Mary Alice performed in

Ed Bullins Edward Artie Bullins (July 2, 1935November 13, 2021), sometimes publishing as Kingsley B. Bass Jr, was an American playwright. He won awards including the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and several Obie Awards. Bullins was associated wit ...

' ''Street Sounds'', directed by Hugh Gittens. She later performed in Lamar Alford's ''Thoughts'' in December 1972 and January 1973. Mary Alice made her screen début in the 1974 film ''

The Education of Sonny Carson ''The Education of Sonny Carson'' is a 1974 American blaxploitation drama film based on the best-selling autobiography of Sonny Carson. The film was directed by '' The Mack'' director Michael Campus, and starring Rony Clanton, Don Gordon, ...

'', and later appeared in the television shows '' Police Woman'' and '' Sanford and Son''. She played Ellie Grant Hubbard on the

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2 ...

'' during the mid-1980s, and the role of Cora in

Stan Lathan Stan Lathan (born July 8, 1945) is an American television and film director and television producer. He is executive producer and director of Black Entertainment Television, BET's ''Real Husbands of Hollywood''. He has produced and directed nume ...

's 1984 cult-classic '' Beat Street'', as well as co–starred in ''

'' as Leticia "Lettie" Bostic from the series' start in 1987 until the end of the second season in 1989. She won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1993 for '' I'll Fly Away''. Her other film credits include ''

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...

'' (1992), '' The Inkwell'' (1994), and '' Down in the Delta'' (1998). In 2000, she was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. She replaced Gloria Foster as the

Oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...

in the sequel '' The Matrix Revolutions'' (2003) and the

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

tie-in ''

Enter the Matrix ''Enter the Matrix'' is a 2003 action-adventure video game developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Infogrames under the Atari brand name. The first game based on ''The Matrix'' film series, its story is concurrent with that of the ...

'' (2003) after Foster, who originated the role, died in 2001. Alice reprised the role one last time in '' The Matrix Online'' prior to retiring from acting in 2005.

Personal life and death

Alice died on July 27, 2022, at her residence in Manhattan at the age of 85, due to natural causes.BET – Mary Alice, 'Different World', 'Sparkle' Actress Dies – July 27, 2022
/ref>

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Video games

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* *
Mary Alice's page on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alice, Mary 1936 births 2022 deaths 20th-century African-American actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century African-American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Chicago Actresses from Mississippi American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Chicago State University alumni Drama Desk Award winners Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners People from Indianola, Mississippi Tony Award winners