Cast & creator
Mary Alice
Best known for Law & Order, Great Performances, Touched by an Angel
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, she was buried with her siblings at Oak Wood Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois, in regard for her last wishes.
35
film credits
22
television credits
57
1965–2005 · acting roles
7.0
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (57)
Showing 57 of 57 credits
Law & Order
Virginia Bryan
1990
Great Performances
1971
Touched by an Angel
Georgia Bishop
1994
L.A. Law
Maxine Manley
1986
American Playhouse
Lilah Dean
1982American Playhouse
Blind Lily
1982
A Different World
Lettie Bostic
1987
Oz
Eugenia Hill
1997
Police Woman
1974
Providence
Abby Franklin
1999
Green Acres
1965
Performance
Black lady
1991
Good Times
1974
Sanford and Son
1972
The Matrix Revolutions
The Oracle
2003
Cosby
1996
I'll Fly Away
1991I'll Fly Away
Marguerite Peck
1991
A Perfect World
Lottie
1993
Awakenings
Nurse Margaret
1990
The Jury
2004
Soul Food
Mrs. Pettaway
2000
Malcolm X
School Teacher
1992
Kojak
Joyce
2005
The Women of Brewster Place
Fannie Michael
1989
The Bonfire of the Vanities
Annie Lamb
1990
Laurel Avenue
Maggie Arnett
1993
Bed of Roses
Alice
1996
Life with Mikey
Mrs. Gordon
1993
Beat Street
Cora
1984
Charlotte Forten's Mission: Experiment in Freedom
Blind Lily
1985
A House Divided: Denmark Vesey's Rebellion
Beck
1982
To Sleep with Anger
Suzie
1990
Catfish in Black Bean Sauce
Dolores Williams
1999
Teachers
Linda Ganz
1984
The Vernon Johns Story
Altona
1994
The Last Brickmaker in America
Dorothy Cobb
2001
The Women of Brewster Place
Fannie Michael
1989
Lawman Without a Gun
Minnie Hayward
1979
The Education of Sonny Carson
Moms
1974
The Inkwell
Evelyn
1994
The Killing Floor
Lilah Dean
1984
Down in the Delta
Rosa Lynn Sinclair
1998
Sunshine State
Eunice Stokes
2002
Sparkle
Effie
1976
Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder
1995
The Matrix Recalibrated
Self
2004
Heading Home
Mary Jones
1995
The Photographer
Violet
2000
Just an Old Sweet Song
Helen Mayfield
1976
The Burly Man Chronicles
2004
The Mother
Black Lady
1994
Sty of the Blind Pig
Alberta Warren
1974
What I Want My Words to Do to You
Self
2003
The Wishing Tree
Mattie
1999
The Brass Ring
Mrs. Hauser
1983Joshua's World
Housekeeper
1980