Mary Alice

Mary Alice

1936-12-03 Indianola, Mississippi, USA 36 Credits

Biography

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. ...

Known For

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Complete Filmography

The Burly Man Chronicles

The Burly Man Chronicles

2004

7.0
Acting

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 ...

The Matrix Recalibrated

The Matrix Recalibrated

2004

as Self

6.7
Acting

The making of Matrix Revolutions, The (2003) is briefly touched on here in this documentary. Interviews with various cast and crew members inform us h...

What I Want My Words to Do to You

What I Want My Words to Do to You

2003

as Self

7.2
Acting

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...

The Matrix Revolutions

The Matrix Revolutions

2003

as The Oracle

6.7
Acting

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 t...

Sunshine State

Sunshine State

2002

as Eunice Stokes

6.4
Acting

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

The Last Brickmaker in America

The Last Brickmaker in America

2001

as Dorothy Cobb

7.6
Acting

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-yea...

The Photographer

The Photographer

2000

as Violet

3.5
Acting

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 befo...

Catfish in Black Bean Sauce

Catfish in Black Bean Sauce

1999

as Dolores Williams

5.4
Acting

An African American couple (Winfield and Alice) adopt two orphans from a Vietnamese refugee camp. After 22 years, the children are reunited with their...

The Wishing Tree

The Wishing Tree

1999

as Mattie

7.4
Acting

When her storyteller mother (Mary Alice) dies, attorney Clara Collier (Alfre Woodard) returns to her Georgia hometown and is soon captivated by a loca...

Down in the Delta

Down in the Delta

1998

as Rosa Lynn Sinclair

6.4
Acting

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 ...

Bed of Roses

Bed of Roses

1996

as Alice

5.9
Acting

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 c...

Heading Home

Heading Home

1995

as Mary Jones

Acting

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

Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder

Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder

1995

Acting

Ray investigates the murder of a judge.

The Mother

The Mother

1994

as Black Lady

Acting

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 homemak...

The Inkwell

The Inkwell

1994

as Evelyn

5.5
Acting

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

The Vernon Johns Story

The Vernon Johns Story

1994

as Altona

8.5
Acting

In 1948, Johns served as the outspoken spiritual leader of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Incensed at the racial injustice t...

A Perfect World

A Perfect World

1993

as Lottie

7.5
Acting

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.

Life with Mikey

Life with Mikey

1993

as Mrs. Gordon

5.7
Acting

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 pe...

Malcolm X

Malcolm X

1992

as School Teacher

7.5
Acting

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 b...

The Bonfire of the Vanities

The Bonfire of the Vanities

1990

as Annie Lamb

5.6
Acting

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 ...

Awakenings

Awakenings

1990

as Nurse Margaret

7.8
Acting

Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patie...

To Sleep with Anger

To Sleep with Anger

1990

as Suzie

6.7
Acting

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

The Women of Brewster Place

The Women of Brewster Place

1989

as Fannie Michael

6.9
Acting

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

A Different World

A Different World

1987

as Leticia Bostic

10.0
Acting

A Different World is an American sitcom television series and a spin-off of The Cosby Show. It aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987, t...

Charlotte Forten's Mission: Experiment in Freedom

Charlotte Forten's Mission: Experiment in Freedom

1985

as Blind Lily

Acting

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 f...

Teachers

Teachers

1984

as Linda Ganz

5.6
Acting

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 canno...

Beat Street

Beat Street

1984

as Cora

6.8
Acting

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.

The Killing Floor

The Killing Floor

1984

as Lilah Dean

7.3
Acting

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 orga...

The Brass Ring

The Brass Ring

1983

as Mrs. Hauser

7.0
Acting

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

A House Divided: Denmark Vessey's Rebellion

A House Divided: Denmark Vessey's Rebellion

1982

as Beck

6.0
Acting

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 fa...

Joshua's World

1980

as Housekeeper

Acting

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 jeopar...

Lawman Without a Gun

Lawman Without a Gun

1979

as Minnie Hayward

Acting

During the 1960s' civil rights movement, a black civil rights worker returns to his small Southern town and runs for sheriff against the incumbent, a ...

Just an Old Sweet Song

Just an Old Sweet Song

1976

as Helen Mayfield

Acting

Upon learning that their grandmother is not long for this world, Nate and Priscilla Simmons pack up their kids and leave Detroit to head down South. E...

Sparkle

Sparkle

1976

as Effie

7.7
Acting

Three sisters start out singing in their church choir in Harlem in the late 1950s and become a successful girl group in the 1960s.

The Education of Sonny Carson

The Education of Sonny Carson

1974

as Moms

4.9
Acting

A 1974 film based on the best-selling autobiography of Sonny Carson who joined a gang and committed petty crime before being sent to prison. After his...

Sty of the Blind Pig

Sty of the Blind Pig

1974

as Alberta Warren

Acting

After moving to Chicago from the South just as the civil rights movement takes hold, the members of an African American family led by steely matriarch...