Margaret Avery

American actress

Margaret Avery

Avery in 1986

Born|

Mangum, Oklahoma, U.S.

Occupation(s)| Actress, singer
Years active| 1972–present
Spouse|

Robert Gordon Hunt

(m. 1974; div. 1980)​

Children| 1

Margaret Avery is an American actress and singer. She began her career appearing on stage and later had starring roles in films including Cool Breeze (1972), Which Way Is Up? (1977), Scott Joplin (1977), and The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (1979).

Avery is best known for her performance as Shug Avery in the 1985 period drama film The Color Purple for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.[1] She continued appearing in films including Blueberry Hill (1988), White Man's Burden (1995), Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008), Meet the Browns (2008), and Proud Mary (2018). From 2013 to 2019, Avery starred as Helen Patterson, lead character's mother, in the BET drama series Being Mary Jane.

## Early life[edit]

Margaret Avery was born in Mangum, Oklahoma, and raised in San Diego, California, where she attended Point Loma High School.[citation needed] She then attended San Francisco State University, where in 1965, she earned a degree in education.[2] While working as a substitute teacher in Los Angeles, Avery began making singing and acting appearances.[citation needed]

## Career[edit]

Among the plays Avery appeared in were Revolution and The Sistuhs. In 1972, she received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress for her performance in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?.[3][4] In the television movie Something Evil (1972), a horror story with Sandy Dennis and Darren McGavin, Avery was directed by Steven Spielberg. That same year she made her theatrical motion picture debut as Lark in the crime film Cool Breeze with Thalmus Rasulala and Judy Pace. In this blaxploitation remake of The Asphalt Jungle, Avery played the Marilyn Monroe part. The following year she played a prostitute in Magnum Force, the second in the series of Dirty Harry films starring Clint Eastwood, in which her character was murdered by her pimp. The character was killed through the pouring drain cleaner down the victim's throat, which was said to have inspired the notorious Hi-Fi murders case in 1974.[5][6]

Avery received NAACP Image Awards for her performance in the 1976 film Louis Armstrong - Chicago Style. In the 1977 film Which Way Is Up?, directed by Michael Schultz, Avery gave a comedic performance as Annie Mae, the wife of Richard Pryor's character. That same year, she played Belle Joplin, wife of the ragtime composer Scott Joplin, opposite Billy Dee Williams in the title role in film Scott Joplin, receiving NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture nomination. In 1979, she appeared in The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh.

Avery made guest appearances on many television series during 1970s and 1980s , including The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Kojak, Marcus Welby, M.D., Sanford and Son, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Rookies, five appearances on Harry O, A.E.S. Hudson Street, T. J. Hooker, Murder, She Wrote, Miami Vice, Spenser: For Hire, and The Cosby Show.

In 1985, Avery played the role of Shug Avery in the period drama film The Color Purple directed by Steven Spielberg. Her performance in this screen adaptation of Alice Walker's prize-winning novel The Color Purple was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.[7] Avery was the last character to be cast in the film. In her Essence interview she said: "I had been singing in Indonesia and came back to find all these messages on my answering service from other actors saying, ‘Hey Margaret, you’ve got to get your agent on The Color Purple.’ My agent at the time had tried to get me an audition but was told that I wasn’t right for the role— they wanted a singer, not an actor. I knew Ruben Cannon, who was casting at that time, because he’d cast me in so many television things before, so I wrote him a note. I had read the book and was drawn to Shug Avery. Ruben allowed me to put my reading for the role on tape. Because of him, I was able to get my work seen by Steven Spielberg. Alice Walker said that she had seen a lot of tapes of other actors, but when my audition came up, she just kind of woke up. She couldn’t take her eyes off me. That was like a beautiful introduction to getting the role."[8]

After The Color Purple and Oscar nomination, Avery did not work on film or television for two years. She said, "The fact that I didn’t work for a couple years after The Color Purple is not unique. It not only happens to White actors sometimes, but with Black actors, too, but more so for women of color. At the time, most women of color who were in the business were limited to Black film; whereas my counterpart like Danny Glover, went on to Lethal Weapon One, Two, and Three. He didn’t have to be limited to a Black film; he didn’t have to be married to a family, or related to somebody, like we women have to. I didn’t work for a couple years after The Color Purple. What saved me was the college lecture circuit. I kind of got a backlash for two reasons; one, no one would even think of me for a television role because they figured she’s too big to do TV now. That was the pattern."[8]

In 1988, Avery starred in the period drama film Blueberry Hill, and the following year appeared in action film Riverbend. In 1990, she appeared in The Return of Superfly, another blaxploitation film. In 1992, Avery starred in the ABC miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream as Martha Scruse, mother of Katherine Jackson, who was played by Angela Bassett. In 1995, she co-starred opposite Harry Belafonte in the drama film White Man's Burden. The following years, she guest-starred on number of television series, including Walker, Texas Ranger, JAG, and Bones. In 2008, Avery played Mama Jenkins in Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, opposite Martin Lawrence and James Earl Jones, and Sarah Brown in Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns, which also stars Angela Bassett.

From 2013 to 2019, Avery played the role of Helen Patterson in the BET drama series, Being Mary Jane. She played Taraji P. Henson' mother in the 2018 action film Proud Mary. She later guest-starred on Grey's Anatomy and Better Things.

## Personal life[edit]

In January 1974, Avery married Robert Gordon Hunt. They have one daughter, Aisha Hunt, and divorced in 1980.[citation needed]

Avery lives in Los Angeles, and remains active in show business. While continuing to act, she also works with at-risk teenagers and battered women of the greater Los Angeles area. She was interviewed by Melody Trice on The Melody Trice Show about her activism.[9]

## Filmography[edit]

### Film[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1972  | Something Evil | Irene  |
Cool Breeze | Lark  |
Terror at Red Wolf Inn | Edwina  |
1973  | An Eye for an Eye  | Nurse  |
Magnum Force | Prostitute  |
An Eye for an Eye | Nurse  |
Hell Up in Harlem | Sister Jennifer  |
1976  | Louis Armstrong - Chicago Style | Alma Rae  | NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
1977  | Which Way Is Up? | Annie Mae  |
Scott Joplin | Belle Joplin  | Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
1979  | The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh | Toby Millman  |
1980  | The Sky Is Gray | Rosemary  |
The Lathe of Heaven | Heather LeLache  |
1985  | The Color Purple | Shug Avery  | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1988  | Blueberry Hill | Hattie Cale  |
1989  | Riverbend | Bell Coleman  |
Single Women Married Men | Grace Williams  |
1990  | Heat Wave | Roxie Turpin  |
The Return of Superfly | Francine  |
1993  | Lightning in a Bottle | Dr. Sierheed  |
Night Trap | Miss Sadie  |
1994  | Cyborg 3: The Recycler | Doc Edford  |
1995  | The Set-Up | Olivia Dubois  |
White Man's Burden | Megan Thomas  |
1998  | Love Kills | Moon  |
2002  | Waitin' to Live | Pearline Loggins  |
Second to Die | Insurance agent  |
2007  | Lord Help Us | Dorinda Thomas  |
Exodus | Robbed Tourist  |
2008  | Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins | Mama Jenkins  |
Meet the Browns | Sarah Brown  |
2009  | Extrospection | Anna  |
2018  | Proud Mary[10] | Mina  |
2019  | Grand-Daddy Day Care | Millie  |
2022  | We Are Gathered Here Today | Estelle Wyatt  |
Block Party | Janice Sommers  | Also executive producer
2023  | The Nana Project | Gladys  |

### Television[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1973  | The New Dick Van Dyke Show | Pam Harris / Nurse Wilkinson  | Episode: "What Your Best Friend Doesn't Know"
Ironside | Bartender  | Episode: "The Last Payment"
1974  | Kojak | Lula  | Episode: "You Can't Tell a Hurt Man How to Holler"
Marcus Welby, M.D. | Julie  | Episode: "The 266 Days"
1975  | Sanford and Son | Denise  | Episode: "Strange Bedfellows"
Kolchak: The Night Stalker | Ruth Van Galen  | Episode: "The Sentry"
1982  | The Powers of Matthew Star | April  | Episode: "Accused"
1983  | For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story | Dottie  |
1985  | Murder, She Wrote | Dixie  | Episode: "Jessica Behind Bars"
1987  | Rags to Riches | Celia Richards (Cee Cee Smith)  |
Miami Vice | Sally Cordova  | Episode: "The Afternoon Plane"
1992  | The Jacksons: An American Dream | Martha Scruse  |
The Cosby Show | Leah  | Episode: "Clair's Reunion"
Roc | Helen  | Episode: "The Lady Killer"
1998  | Wie stark muss eine Liebe sein | Mary McMillian  |
2005  | JAG | Indira Diamond  | Episode: "Unknown Soldier"
Bones | Ivy Gillespie  | Episode: "The Man in the Fallout Shelter"
2012  | Single Ladies | Josephine  | Episode: "Ex Factor"
2013–2019  | Being Mary Jane | Helen Patterson  | Main role; 34 episodes
2017  | The Librarians | Eleanor Darnell  | Episode: "And the Silver Screen"
2019  | Grey's Anatomy | Lucille Reed  | Episode: "I Walk the Line"
Better Things | Esther  | Episode: "Easter"
2021  | The Neighborhood | Aunt Desiray  | Episode: "Welcome to the Family"

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Actress Gains Visibility, Respect With 'Purple'". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
2. ^ "Celebrate SF State and its extraordinary alumni". San Francisco State University. September 2014.
3. ^ O'Donnell, Owen; Steen, Sara (1990). Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Vol. 8\. Gale. p. 27\. ISBN 9780810320710.
4. ^ Los Angeles Times, March 20, 1974, "27 Win Critics' Circle Honors," p. E 1.
5. ^ Kinder, Gary (1982). Victim: The Other Side of Murder. Delacorte Press. ISBN 0385291051.
6. ^ Douglas, John E., and Olshaker, Mark (1999). The Anatomy of Motive: The FBI's Legendary Mindhunter Explores the Key to Understanding and Catching Violent Criminals. New York: Scribner. pp. 91–109. ISBN 978-0-684-84598-2.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
7. ^ "Margaret Avery | Movie and Film Awards". AllMovie.
8. ^ a b "'The Color Purple' Turns 30! Margaret 'Shug' Avery Relives the Memories".
9. ^ Roku. "Roku". Roku. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
10. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (5 April 2017). "Margaret Avery, Xander Berkeley & More Join Taraji P. Henson In 'Proud Mary'". Retrieved 9 July 2017.

## External links[edit]

* Margaret Avery at IMDb
* Margaret Avery at AllMovie

Authority control databases

International|

* FAST
* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* Spain
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* BnF data
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Other|

* SNAC
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*[m.]: married
*[div.]: divorced