Beah Richards left her native Vicksburg, Mississippi, for New York City in 1950. She would not acquire a significant role on stage until 1955, when she appeared in the off-Broadway show "Take A Giant Step" convincingly portraying an 84-year-old grandmother without using theatrical makeup. In 1962 she appeared in writer 'James Baldwin in 2000; she was awarded an Emmy Award for her performance only a few days before her death--a fitting coda to an exemplary life and career.
Died just days after receiving Emmy award for "The Practice" , which was accepted for her by LisaGay Hamilton and delivered to Vicksburg.
Married for three years to an African-American sculptor.
1948: Graduated from Dillard University in New Orleans.
Father was a Baptist minister and mother a seamstress.
Stage: Appeared in James Baldwin s "The Amen Corner" on Broadway in 1965, for which she received a Tony nomination as Best Actress.
One of her poems, "Keep Climbing, Girls", has been turned into a picture book inspiring girls power. Published 2006 by Simon & Schuster.
For her work on the legitimate stage, she was honored with the Paul Robeson Pioneer Award and was inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame.
[quoted in "I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed,America"] There are a lot of movies out there that I would hate to be,paid to do, some real demeaning, real woman-denigrating stuff. It is up,to women to change their roles. They are going to have to write the,stuff and do it. And they will.
For me life is a challenge. And it will be a challenge if I live to be a hundred or if I get to be a trillionaire. .
