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Beah Richards (Beulah Richardson at birth) (12
July 1920 to 14 September 2000) was an American
actress with a long career on stage, screen and
television.  She was also a poet, playwright and
author. 

Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, her mother was a
seamstress and PTA advocate and her father was a
Baptist minister.  In 1948 she graduated from
Dillard University in New Orleans and two years
later moved to New York City.  Her career started
to take off in 1955 when she portrayed an
eighty-four-year-old-grandmother in the
off-Broadway show Take A Giant Step.  She often
played the role of a mother or grand-mother, and
continued acting her entire life.  She appeared in
the original Broadway productions of Purlie
Victorious, The Miracle Worker, and A Raisin in
the Sun.

Richards was nominated for a Tony award for her
1965 performance in James Baldwin (writer)|James
Baldwin's The Amen Corner.  She also received a
nomination for the Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actress for her performance as Sidney
Poitier's mother in the 1967 film Guess Who's
Coming to Dinner.  Other notable movie
performances include Hurry Sundown (film)|Hurry
Sundown, The Great White Hope, and Beloved

She made numerous guest television appearances
including recurrent roles on The Bill Cosby Show
and ER (TV series)|ER (as Dr. Peter Benton's
mother.)  She was the winner of two Emmy Awards.
  
In the last year of her life, Richards was the
subject of a documentary created by actress
LisaGay Hamilton.  The documentary Beah: A black
woman speaks was created from over 70 hours of
their conversations.  The film won the Grand Jury
Prize at the AFI Film Festival. 

==Personal quote==

"There are a lot of movies out there that I would
hate to be paid to do, some real demeaning, real
woman-denigrating stuff. It is up to women to
change their roles. They are going to have to
write the stuff and do it. And they will."