Mary Alice

Acting

Mary Alice

Born — Died

1936-12-03 — 2022-07-27

Place of birth

Indianola, Mississippi, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

57 titles

Mary Alice was born on December 3, 1936 in Indianola, Mississippi, USA to parents Ozelar Jurnakin (Smith) and Sam Smith. She was an actress, known for The Matrix Revolutions (2003), Awakenings (1990) and Malcolm X (1992). She taught in Elementary School before her acting career took off. When she was still a struggling actress doing stage plays, she made a living doing her castmate's laundry for a salary of $200 a week. She was a lifelong liberal Democrat, feminist, and civil rights activist. Was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2000. She retired from acting in 2005. She died of natural causes on July 27, 2022 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. Upon her death, s…

Known for

Law & Order poster
7.3

In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.

Law & Order

1990

Great Performances poster
6.1

The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.

Great Performances

1971

L.A. Law poster
7.0

L.A. Law is an American television legal drama series that ran for eight seasons on NBC from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it contained many of Bochco's trademark features including a large number of parallel storylines, social drama and off-the-wall humor. It reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s, and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot-topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights, homophobia, sexual harassment, AIDS, and domestic violence. The series often also reflected social tensions between the wealthy senior lawyer protagonists and their less well-paid junior staff. The show was popular with audiences and critics, and won 15 Emmy Awards throughout its run, four of which were for Outstanding Drama Series.

L.A. Law

1986

American Playhouse poster
6.6

American Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.

American Playhouse

1982

Touched by an Angel poster
7.2

Monica, an angel, is tasked with bringing guidance and messages from God to various people who are at a crossroads in their lives.

Touched by an Angel

1994

Oz poster
8.0

The daily lives of prisoners in Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison where ingroups - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to their mutual friends and terrorize their mutual enemies.

Oz

1997

Film credits

2000s · 7 titles

The Matrix Revolutions poster
6.8

The human city of Zion defends itself against the massive invasion of the machines as Neo fights to end the war at another front while also opposing the rogue Agent Smith.

The Matrix Revolutions

2003

Sunshine State poster
6.4

A woman and her new husband returns to her hometown roots in coastal northern Florida, and must deal with family, business, and encroaching real estate development.

Sunshine State

2002

The Last Brickmaker in America poster
8.0

A man must cope with the loss of his wife and the obsolescence of his job before finding redemption by becoming a role model to an equally lost 13-year-old.

The Last Brickmaker in America

2001

The Matrix Recalibrated poster
6.9

The making of Matrix Revolutions, The (2003) is briefly touched on here in this documentary. Interviews with various cast and crew members inform us how they were affected by the deaths of Gloria Foster and Aaliyah, and also delve into the making of the visual effects that takes up a lot of screen time. Written by Rhyl Donnelly

The Matrix Recalibrated

2004

The Burly Man Chronicles poster
6.9

This mammoth documentary takes us through the making of both The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. On top of seeing many pre-production and production meetings, we are also invited on the sets for both films, and get an idea of how difficult it was to accomplish the nearly impossible.

The Burly Man Chronicles

2004

The Photographer poster
4.8

A year after becoming the toast of New York City's art scene, photographer Max Martin has lost his ability to take a decent picture. On the night before his make-or-break gallery opening, surrounded by the trappings of success but devoid of inspiration, Max embarks on a bizarre trek through the city in search of ten mysterious photographs that could save his career. Shot in brilliant color and dramatic black and white, first-time director Jeremy Stein's industrial New York City is a wonderland, roamed by witches and magical creatures, where survival hinges on the completion of a simple quest. Accompanied by an unlikely crew of strangers he meets along the way, Max trips through a modern-day Oz and rediscovers the easily forgotten value of seeing magic reflected in everyday life.

The Photographer

2000

What I Want My Words to Do to You poster
7.8

An inside look at a writing workshop led by playwright and activist Eve Ensler, consisting of 15 women, most of whom were convicted of murder. Through a series of exercises and discussions, the women delve into their pasts and explore the nature of their crimes and the extent of their own culpability. The film culminates in an emotionally charged prison performance of the women's writing by acclaimed actors Mary Alice, Glenn Close, Hazelle Goodman, Rosie Perez, and Marisa Tomei.

What I Want My Words to Do to You

2003

1990s · 15 titles

Awakenings poster
7.8

Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, proves a rebirth for Sayer too, as the exuberant patient reveals life's simple but unutterably sweet pleasures to the introverted doctor.

Awakenings

1990

A Perfect World poster
7.5

A kidnapped boy strikes up a friendship with his captor: an escaped convict on the run from the law, headed by an honorable U.S. Marshal.

A Perfect World

1993

The Bonfire of the Vanities poster
5.6

After his mistress runs over a black teen, a Wall Street hotshot sees his life unravel in the spotlight; A down-and-out reporter breaks the story and opportunists clamber to use it to their advantage.

The Bonfire of the Vanities

1990

Malcolm X poster
7.5

A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.

Malcolm X

1992

Bed of Roses poster
5.9

The seeds of love are planted when Lisa, a high-powered investment banker, receives flowers from a secret admirer. But when his fairy-tale fantasies clash with her workaholic ways, they soon find out that sometimes, it's harder than it seems for love to conquer all.

Bed of Roses

1996

Life with Mikey poster
5.7

Michael Chapman, a former child TV star, runs a struggling talent agency specilizing in child acts. When a young girl off the street puts on a real performance after he catches her picking his pocket, he may have just found the next big thing.

Life with Mikey

1993

To Sleep with Anger poster
6.8

An enigmatic drifter from the South comes to visit an old acquaintance who now lives in South-Central LA.

To Sleep with Anger

1990

Heading Home poster
10.0

A Vietnam War–era drama chronicling the emotional journey of two unlikely friends who form a bond en route to Washington, D.C.

Heading Home

1995

The Mother poster
NR

Paddy Chayefsky's 1954 play set in the Bronx tells the story of a recently widowed 66-year-old woman who seeks a job after 40 years of being a homemaker.

The Mother

1994

Down in the Delta poster
6.3

A single mother plagued by alcohol and drug addictions is sent with her children from Chicago to her ancestral home in the Mississippi Delta, to live with her uncle and aunt for the summer.

Down in the Delta

1998

The Inkwell poster
5.7

The Inkwell is about a 16-year-old boy coming of age on Martha's Vineyard in the summer of 1976.

The Inkwell

1994

Catfish in Black Bean Sauce poster
5.4

An African American couple (Winfield and Alice) adopt two orphans from a Vietnamese refugee camp. After 22 years, the children are reunited with their birth mother, bringing deeply submerged resentments and misconceptions to the surface, and forcing the characters to reexamine their identity and relationships in both comical and poignant situations.

Catfish in Black Bean Sauce

1999

The Vernon Johns Story poster
8.5

In 1948, Johns served as the outspoken spiritual leader of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Incensed at the racial injustice that pervaded the South, he was determined to fight for equality for all African Americans.

The Vernon Johns Story

1994

The Wishing Tree poster
7.5

When her storyteller mother (Mary Alice) dies, attorney Clara Collier (Alfre Woodard) returns to her Georgia hometown and is soon captivated by a local legend of the "Magic Man" (Blair Underwood). While looking for the source of the tale, Clara uncovers suprising family secrets. Czech filmmaker Ivan Passer directs this family drama that delves into the storytelling tradition of the Deep South. Blair Underwood and Helen Shaver co-star.

The Wishing Tree

1999

Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder poster
7.0

Ray investigates the murder of a judge.

Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder

1995

1980s · 8 titles

Beat Street poster
6.9

An aspiring DJ, from the South Bronx, and his best friend, a promoter, try to get into show business by exposing people to hip-hop music and culture.

Beat Street

1984

Teachers poster
5.7

A teacher reconnects with an old student who is now an attorney representing a family who is suing the school for graduating their son who still cannot read or write. Amid the daily chaos of teaching in an inner city school, Alex Jurel tries to decide if he will lie at his deposition to protect the school or tell the truth and risk throwing away his career.

Teachers

1984

The Women of Brewster Place poster
6.9

A multigenerational story of the lives of several black women who call an inner-city tenement home.

The Women of Brewster Place

1989

The Killing Floor poster
8.0

During World War I, a poor black Southerner travels north to Chicago to get work in the city's slaughterhouses, where he becomes embroiled in the organized labor movement.

The Killing Floor

1984

A House Divided: Denmark Vesey's Rebellion poster
7.0

Story of Denmark Vesey, who was raised as a slave but bought his freedom. He organized a plot to seize the city and free the black slaves, but this failed and he and others were hanged. Set in Charleston in 1822.

A House Divided: Denmark Vesey's Rebellion

1982

Charlotte Forten's Mission: Experiment in Freedom poster
NR

At the beginning of the Civil War, Union gunboats sailed into Port Royal Sound, on the Sea Islands off the coast of Georgia. White plantation owners fled, and the 10,000 blacks who lived there, almost all of whom were slaves, were freed in the first test of President Abraham Lincoln's dream of emancipation. Charlotte Forten, a 21-year-old educated black woman, helped the freed slaves to begin to build a new society. That experience forms the plot of this drama, based on Charlotte Forten's journals, which was telecast on "American Playhouse."

Charlotte Forten's Mission: Experiment in Freedom

1985

The Brass Ring poster
7.0

A mother afflicted with depression comes into conflict with own mother and children when she refuses to seek professional health care.

The Brass Ring

1983

No artwork available
8.0

The pilot story, set in the small town of Strawee, Arkansas in the '30s, follows the experiences of Joshua Torrance, a doctor whose practice is jeopardized by his opposition to racism as he attempts to treat blacks as equals.

Joshua's World

1980

1970s · 5 titles

Series credits

Law & Order poster
7.3

In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.

Law & Order

1990

Great Performances poster
6.1

The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.

Great Performances

1971

L.A. Law poster
7.0

L.A. Law is an American television legal drama series that ran for eight seasons on NBC from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it contained many of Bochco's trademark features including a large number of parallel storylines, social drama and off-the-wall humor. It reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s, and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot-topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights, homophobia, sexual harassment, AIDS, and domestic violence. The series often also reflected social tensions between the wealthy senior lawyer protagonists and their less well-paid junior staff. The show was popular with audiences and critics, and won 15 Emmy Awards throughout its run, four of which were for Outstanding Drama Series.

L.A. Law

1986

American Playhouse poster
6.6

American Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.

American Playhouse

1982

American Playhouse poster
6.6

American Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.

American Playhouse

1982

Touched by an Angel poster
7.2

Monica, an angel, is tasked with bringing guidance and messages from God to various people who are at a crossroads in their lives.

Touched by an Angel

1994

Oz poster
8.0

The daily lives of prisoners in Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison where ingroups - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to their mutual friends and terrorize their mutual enemies.

Oz

1997

Green Acres poster
7.2

Green Acres is an American sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a rural country farm. Produced by Filmways as a sister show to Petticoat Junction, the series was first broadcast on CBS, from September 15, 1965 to April 27, 1971. Receiving solid ratings during its six-year run, Green Acres was cancelled in 1971 as part of the "rural purge" by CBS. The sitcom has been in syndication and is available in DVD and VHS releases. In 1997, the two-part episode "A Star Named Arnold is Born" was ranked #59 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.

Green Acres

1965

A Different World poster
7.2

A Different World is a spin-off series from The Cosby Show and originally centered on Denise Huxtable and the life of students at Hillman College, a fictional mixed but historically black college in the state of Virginia. After Bonet's departure in the first season, the remainder of the series primarily focused more on Southern belle Whitley Gilbert and mathematics whiz Dwayne Wayne. The series frequently depicted members of the major historically black fraternities and sororities.

A Different World

1987

Police Woman poster
6.4

Sergeant “Pepper"” Anderson, an undercover cop for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department, poses undercover from mob girl to prostitute.

Police Woman

1974

Providence poster
6.7

Providence is an American television drama series.

Providence

1999

Sanford and Son poster
7.5

The misadventures of a cantankerous junk dealer and his frustrated son.

Sanford and Son

1972

Performance poster
6.3

An anthology series of various plays and dramatic performances.

Performance

1991

Good Times poster
8.0

Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer. Good Times is a spin-off of Maude, which is itself a spin-off of All in the Family along with The Jeffersons. The series is set in Chicago. The first two seasons were taped at CBS Television City in Hollywood. In the fall of 1975, the show moved to Metromedia Square, where Norman Lear's own production company was housed.

Good Times

1974

Cosby poster
6.1

Cosby is an American situation comedy television series broadcast on CBS from September 16, 1996 to April 28, 2000, loosely based on the British sitcom One Foot in the Grave. The program stars Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashād, who previously worked with Cosby in the 1984–1992 NBC sitcom The Cosby Show. Madeline Kahn portrayed their neighbor, Pauline, until her death in 1999.

Cosby

1996

I'll Fly Away poster
7.5

I'll Fly Away is an American drama television series set during the late 1950s and early 1960s, in an unspecified Southern U.S. state. It aired on NBC from 1991 to 1993 and starred Regina Taylor as Lilly Harper, a black housekeeper for the family of district attorney Forrest Bedford, whose name is an ironic reference to Nathan Bedford Forrest, the founder of the Ku Klux Klan. As the show progressed, Lilly became increasingly involved in the Civil Rights Movement, with events eventually drawing in Forrest as well. I'll Fly Away won two 1992 Emmy Awards, and 23 nominations in total. It won three Humanitas Prizes, two Golden Globe Awards, two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Drama Series, and a Peabody Award. However, the series was never a ratings blockbuster, and it was canceled by NBC in 1993, despite widespread protests by critics and viewer organizations. After the program's cancellation, a two-hour movie, I'll Fly Away: Then and Now, was produced, in order to resolve dangling storylines from Season 2, and provide the series with a true finale. The movie aired on October 11, 1993 on PBS. Its major storyline closely paralleled the true story of the 1955 murder of Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. Thereafter, PBS began airing repeats of the original episodes, ceasing after one complete showing of the entire series.

I'll Fly Away

1991

I'll Fly Away poster
7.5

I'll Fly Away is an American drama television series set during the late 1950s and early 1960s, in an unspecified Southern U.S. state. It aired on NBC from 1991 to 1993 and starred Regina Taylor as Lilly Harper, a black housekeeper for the family of district attorney Forrest Bedford, whose name is an ironic reference to Nathan Bedford Forrest, the founder of the Ku Klux Klan. As the show progressed, Lilly became increasingly involved in the Civil Rights Movement, with events eventually drawing in Forrest as well. I'll Fly Away won two 1992 Emmy Awards, and 23 nominations in total. It won three Humanitas Prizes, two Golden Globe Awards, two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Drama Series, and a Peabody Award. However, the series was never a ratings blockbuster, and it was canceled by NBC in 1993, despite widespread protests by critics and viewer organizations. After the program's cancellation, a two-hour movie, I'll Fly Away: Then and Now, was produced, in order to resolve dangling storylines from Season 2, and provide the series with a true finale. The movie aired on October 11, 1993 on PBS. Its major storyline closely paralleled the true story of the 1955 murder of Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. Thereafter, PBS began airing repeats of the original episodes, ceasing after one complete showing of the entire series.

I'll Fly Away

1991

Soul Food poster
7.2

Soul Food: The Series is a television drama that aired Wednesday nights on Showtime from June 28, 2000 to May 26, 2004. Created by filmmaker George Tillman, Jr. and developed for television by Felicia D. Henderson, Soul Food is based upon Tillman's childhood experiences growing up in Wisconsin, and is a continuation of his successful 1997 film of the same name. Having aired for 74 episodes, it is the longest running drama with a predominantly black cast in the history of North American prime-time television.

Soul Food

2000

The Jury poster
9.0

Set in New York City, the series brings the viewer into the jury room to watch the deliberators try to answer the many questions posed during a trial. As facts are exposed through flashbacks of testimony and crime footage, viewers will form their own opinions about the guilt or innocence of the defendant. Following each verdict, a final flashback will let viewers see the crime as it actually happened and reveal whether or not the jury made the right decision.

The Jury

2004

Kojak poster
4.4

Kojak is an American television series starring Ving Rhames, airing on the USA Network cable channel, and on ITV4 in the United Kingdom. It was a reimagined version of the 1973-1978 series starring Telly Savalas. Rhames portrays Lieutenant Theo Kojak of the New York City Police Department, a skilled plain clothes detective with a shaved head and an affinity for jazz, fine clothing, and lollipops. As with the original series, he is fond of the catchphrase "Who loves ya, baby?" The series lasted for one season.

Kojak

2005

The Women of Brewster Place poster
6.0

A multigenerational story of the lives of several black women who call an inner-city tenement home.

The Women of Brewster Place

1989

Laurel Avenue poster
6.8

A weekend in the life of the Arnett family. The events of a forty eight hour period in St. Paul, MN, have a rainbow of incidents. From a preacher to a drug dealer; from an innocent young school girl to a reformed drug addict gone bad. The same scenario that millions of American families encounter each day in suburbia; both black and white and brown and yellow. There are no racial boundaries to the ups and downs of the real American life.

Laurel Avenue

1993