14 Facts About Beah Richards

Beulah Elizabeth Richardson, known professionally as Beah Richards and Bea Richards, was an American actress of stage, screen, and television.

Beah Richards received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in the 1965 production of The Amen Corner.

Beah Richards's career began in 1955 when she portrayed an 84-year-old-grandmother in the off-Broadway show Take a Giant Step.

Beah Richards often played the role of a mother or grandmother, and continued acting her entire life.

Beah Richards appeared in the original Broadway productions of Purlie Victorious, The Miracle Worker, and A Raisin in the Sun.

Beah Richards's first play was written in 1951 titled One Is a Crowd about a black singer who seeks revenge on a white man who destroyed her family.

Beah Richards is among the Black women who "actively participated in movements affiliated with the CPUSA" between 1917's Bolshevik Revolution and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev's 1956 revelations.

Beah Richards was later a sponsor of the National United Committee to Free Angela Davis.

Richards was known professionally as Beah Richards, and is referred to in several sources as Bea Richards.

Beah Richards appeared in Roots: The Next Generations as Cynthia Murray Palmer, the grandmother of Alex Haley.

Beah Richards was nominated for a Tony Award for her 1965 performance in James Baldwin's The Amen Corner.

Beah Richards received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Mrs Mary Prentice, Sidney Poitier's mother in the 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

Beah Richards was the winner of two Emmy Awards, one in 1988 for her appearance on the series Frank's Place and another in 2000 for her appearance on The Practice.

Beah Richards died from emphysema in her hometown of Vicksburg, Mississippi at the age of 80, less than a month after winning an Emmy Award.