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Irma P Hall, actor in Soul Food and The Ladykillers, dies at 91

Her family announced the death of an actor whose career followed 27 years of teaching in Houston. Hall won an NAACP Image Award for Soul Food and a Cannes special jury prize for The Ladykillers. She also helped establish a Dallas theatre, while awards bearing her name recognise local Black theatre work.

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An empty, sunlit high-school classroom in Houston.

Hall’s family announces her death

American actor Irma P Hall has died at 91, her family announced. Her best-known roles included the family matriarch in Soul Food and the landlady in The Ladykillers.[1], [2]

The family said she died on Tuesday and remembered her work as an actor, writer, poet and educator. Born in the US state of Texas in 1935, Hall was the daughter of saxophonist Samuel Player. She taught high school for 27 years in Houston, Texas, before moving into acting. They Still Call Me Bruce was among her early screen appearances, as was On Valentine’s Day. She later appeared in Straight Talk with actor Dolly Parton, and in The Babe with actor John Goodman.[1]

Soul Food brought an acting award and a television return

Hall’s Soul Food character in 1997 was Big Mama Joseph. Actors Vanessa Williams and Nia Long played her daughters, alongside Vivica A Fox. She received a supporting actress Image Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, known as the NAACP. She played the character again in the television adaptation, which ran between 2000 and 2004. She appeared with Robin Williams in Patch Adams. Another credit was the Clint Eastwood film Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.[1]

Cannes recognised The Ladykillers role

The Coen brothers’ The Ladykillers earned Hall a Cannes special jury prize in 2004 for playing Marva Munson. In Michael Mann’s Collateral that same year, Jamie Foxx played her character’s son. Hall also contributed to the founding of a Texas theatre, Dallas Minority Repertory Theatre. In 2015, awards named after her began recognising theatre achievement around Dallas–Fort Worth.[1]

References

  1. News sourceThe GuardianIrma P Hall dies aged 91↩1↩2↩3↩4
  2. News sourceGood Morning AmericaActor Irma P Hall dies at 91↩

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