Mariann Aalda
![]() | This article has multiple issues.Please helpimprove itor discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Mariann Aalda | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | [1] | May 7, 1948
Occupation(s) | Actress, comedian |
Years active | 1978–present |
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Mariann_Aalda_TEDx.jpg/111px-Mariann_Aalda_TEDx.jpg)
Mariann Aalda(born May 7, 1948) is an American television, stage, film actress, performance artist, and stand-up comic.
Career
[edit]Aalda is best known for her work in television as one of the first African-American daytime soap opera heroines, playing DiDi Bannister-Stoner onABC'sThe Edge of Night[1]from 1981 until the show's cancellation in 1984. For many years before that she was a writer-performer with the sketch comedy troupe Off Center Theatre in New York, and toured with the Boston-based improv group, The Proposition, along with notable animation voice actor and director, Charlie Adler.[2]Later, she appeared on the CBS showGuiding Light.She also had regular roles on theCBSsitcomThe Royal Family,as the daughter ofRedd FoxxandDella Reese,[3]and theHBOseries1st & Ten,as the wife ofO. J. Simpson's character.
Aalda also achieved notoriety recurring on theCBSsitcomDesigning Women,as Anthony's yuppie-from-hell girlfriend, Lita Ford, and on theNBCsoap operaSunset Beachas the tragically disfigured Lena Hart. She co-hosted the lifestyle showDesigns for Livingon theUSA Networkand was a reporter for the magazine showNOW!onWNBCin New York. Her numerous guest-star roles are mostly sitcoms.
Aalda has also appeared in movies, co-starring in the urban cult filmClass Actas rapperKid's clueless mom, and as Coach Harrison inNobody's Perfect.She was a featured player inBeachesandPretty Woman,directed byGarry Marshalland The Wiz, directed by Sidney Lumet.
She is a leader in the positive aging movement, with a TEDx Talk[4]and AARP recognition as an "Age Disruptor".[5]She is a prolific podcast guest on the topic of shameless aging. She is resident Age Anarchist for Women of Color Unite (WOCU), a 5000-plus member advocacy group for women of color working both above and below the line in the entertainment industry. She also delivers her message on positive aging as a standup comedian and with her solo "existential comedy" show,Getting Old Is a Bitch...But I'm Gonna Wrestle That Bitch to the Ground!,[6]which broke a 30-year box office record at the 2019 National Black Theatre Festival inWinston-Salem, North Carolina.
Film and television credits
[edit]Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1978 | The Wiz | Guest at Aunt Emma's Party | |
1988 | Beaches | Ticket Seller | Alternative title:Forever Friends |
1989 | Nobody's Perfect | Coach Harrison | |
1990 | Pretty Woman | Saleswoman | |
1992 | Class Act | Duncan's Mom |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1981–1984 | The Edge of Night | Didi Bannister Stoner | Unknown episodes |
1985 | What's Happening Now!! | Theresa | 1 episode |
1986 | The Last Precinct | Angela Beauchamp | 1 episode |
1986–1987 | 1st & Ten | Ellen | Unknown episodes |
1988 | Hooperman | 1 episode | |
1989 | Designing Women | Lita Ford | Episode: "The Girlfriend" |
1990–1991 | Guiding Light | Grace Battles | Unknown episodes |
1991–1992 | The Royal Family | Elizabeth Royal Winston | 15 episodes |
1994 | Models Inc. | Janet Johnson | 1 episode |
1995 | Family Matters | Lois | Episode: "Midterm Crisis" |
The O. J. Simpson Story | Eunice Simpson | Television movie | |
1996 | Grace Under Fire | Student | 1 episode |
1998 | The Wayans Bros. | Casting director | Episode: "Help a Brother Out" |
Chicago Hope | Woman | Episode: "The Other Cheek" | |
1999 | Sunset Beach | Lena Hart | 13 episodes |
2000 | Veronica's Closet | Brian's Mother | Episode: "Veronica Checks Out" |
2003 | The Parkers | Hanna Foster | Episode: "Join the Club" |
2006 | All of Us | Muriel | Episode: "He's Gotta Have It" |
References
[edit]- ^ab"71-Year Old Black Actress Who Made Soap Opera History in the 1980's Refuses to Retire".Blacknews.January 23, 2020.Archivedfrom the original on December 30, 2020.RetrievedDecember 30,2020.
- ^Clodfelter, Tim."Getting old is tough. Actress uses humor to talk about the ups and downs of aging".Winston-Salem Journal.RetrievedSeptember 3,2019.
- ^O'Connor, John J. (April 8, 1992)."Mom Adds a Daughter, and a Show Goes On".The New York Times.p. C 24.ProQuest108951800.RetrievedDecember 30,2020– viaProQuest.
- ^TEDx Talk
- ^Age Disruptor
- ^Getting Old Is a Bitch...But I'm Gonna Wrestle That Bitch to the Ground!
External links
[edit]- Living people
- 20th-century American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
- Southern Illinois University alumni
- American soap opera actresses
- Actresses from Chicago
- American television actresses
- American film actresses
- American stage actresses
- 20th-century African-American actresses
- 21st-century African-American actresses
- 1948 births