Minnie Gentry (born Minnie Lee Watson, December 2, 1915 – May 11, 1993)Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: Gentry, Minnie Lee Watson
/ref> was an American actress. Gentry was born Minnie Lee Watson in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, the daughter of Mincie and Taylor Watson. Her family moved to

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

during her childhood, where she began studying piano at the age of nine, at the Phyllis Wheatley School of Music. She began acting at the Friendly Inn Settlement and married Lloyd Gentry in 1932. Subsequently, she appeared in many plays at the African-American theater the

Karamu House Karamu House in the Fairfax neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio, United States, is the oldest producing Black Theatre in the United States opening in 1915. Many of Langston Hughes's plays were developed and premiered at the theate ...

. On Broadway, Gentry performed in ''All God's Chillun Got Wings'' (1975), ''The Sunshine Boys'' (1972), ''Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death'' (1971), and ''Lysistrata'' (1946). She also appeared in several films, including '' The Brother from Another Planet'', '' Def by Temptation'', and ''

Jungle Fever ''Jungle Fever'' is a 1991 American romantic drama film written, produced and directed by Spike Lee. Starring Lee, Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samuel L. Jackson, Lonette McKee, John Turturro, Frank Vincent, ...

''. She portrayed Aunt Bess on the television series ''

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 ...

'' and Miriam George on '' Ryan's Hope''. She also appeared as Gramtee on ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom created by (along with Ed. Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson) and starring Bill Cosby that originally aired on NBC from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, with a total of 201 half-hour e ...

''. Gentry had a daughter, Marjorie Hawkins. Her great-grandson is actor

Terrence Howard Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969) is an American actor performing on film and television. He has received a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Golden ...

. On May 11, 1993, Gentry died at her home in Manhattan at age 77.

Filmography

References

External links

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1915 births 1993 deaths American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Actresses from Cleveland Actresses from Norfolk, Virginia 20th-century American actresses 20th-century African-American actresses {{Ohio-bio-stub