Tonea Stewart is the former dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts of Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama.
21 Facts About Tonea Stewart
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Tonea Stewart had a recurring role as Aunt Etta Kibby in the American television series In the Heat of the Night, and is an NAACP Image Award nominee for acting in film A Time to Kill.
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Tonea Stewart was born in Greenwood, Mississippi, the daughter of Hattie and Thomas Harris.
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Tonea Stewart's father worked as an electrician and plumber, while Stewart's mother was an educator.
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Tonea Stewart's sister, Beverly Branson, is a singer, and the two have performed together on stage.
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However, after acting in a school production, Tonea Stewart changed her major to theater.
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Tonea Stewart earned a BS degree in speech and theater at Jackson, and then studied theater at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
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In 1989, Tonea Stewart received a PhD in theater arts from Florida State University.
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Tonea Stewart appeared as Mrs Walker in film Mississippi Burning.
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From 1991 to 1993, Tonea Stewart played Aunt Etta Kibby on In the Heat of the Night.
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Tonea Stewart acted in the feature films Body Snatchers, Livin' Large, Mississippi Damned and Girls Trip.
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Tonea Stewart has made guest appearances on television series Matlock, Walker, Texas Ranger, ER and Touched by an Angel.
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Tonea Stewart played Gwen Hailey, the wife of Samuel L Jackson's character, in A Time to Kill.
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Tonea Stewart received an NAACP Image Award nomination for her work in this film.
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The majority of Tonea Stewart's work has been in television films.
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Tonea Stewart acted in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy 'Satchel' Paige and The Rosa Parks Story, where she appeared as Johnnie Carr.
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In 1994, Tonea Stewart appeared in the TV movies One Christmas as Evangeline and A Passion for Justice: The Hazel Brannon Smith Story as Henrietta.
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Tonea Stewart portrayed Memaw, the grandmother of Halle Downing, in the Oprah Winfrey Network movie First Christmas.
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Tonea Stewart eventually became dean before retiring in 2019 after 48 years in education.
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In 2020, Tonea Stewart was appointed by Alabama state governor Kay Ivey to represent the fifth district of the Alabama State Board of Education.
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Tonea Stewart is married to Allen Stewart, with whom she has three children.