Margaret Avery Biography

Margaret Avery (born January 20, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Shug in The Color Purple (1985).

Early life

Born in Mangum, Oklahoma, she was raised in San Diego, California, where she attended Point Loma High School. Avery then attended San Francisco State University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in education. While working as a substitute teacher in Los Angeles, Avery began making singing appearances and acting on the stage.

Career

Among the plays she appeared in were Revolution, and Sistuhs. For her performance in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? (1973) she received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for "Performance In A Major Role."

In the television movie Something Evil (1972), a horror story with Sandy Dennis and Darren McGavin, she was directed by Steven Spielberg. That same year, she made her theatrical motion picture debut as Lark in the MGM crime/drama Cool Breeze (1972) with Thalmus Rasulala and Judy Pace. In this blaxploitation remake of The Asphalt Jungle, Avery played the Marilyn Monroe part. The following year she played a prostitute in Magnum Force (1973), the second in the series of Dirty Harry films starring Clint Eastwood, in which the character she played was murdered by her pimp (played by Albert Popwell) by having drain cleaner poured down her throat. This act of killing was said to have inspired the notorious Hi-Fi Murders case in 1974.

In Universal's Which Way Is Up? (1977), directed by Michael Schultz, Avery turned in a comedic performance as Annie Mae, the wife of Richard Pryor. That same year, she played Belle Joplin, wife of the ragtime composer Scott Joplin, opposite Billy Dee Williams in the title role.

Avery scored a major success with her role as the sultry and spirited blues singer, Shug Avery, in Spielberg's The Color Purple (1985) opposite Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover. Her performance in this screen adaptation of Alice Walker's prize-winning novel of the same title earned Avery an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

In 1992 Avery starred in The Jacksons: An American Dream as Martha Scruse, mother of Katherine Jackson, who was played by Angela Bassett. The two would later star together in Meet the Browns.

She has also made numerous TV series guest appearances, including The New Dick Van Dyke Show; Kojak; Sanford and Son; Kolchak: The Night Stalker; A.E.S. Hudson Street; Murder, She Wrote; Miami Vice; Spenser: For Hire; The Cosby Show; Walker, Texas Ranger; and JAG.

In 2008, Avery played Mama Jenkins in Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, opposite Martin Lawrence and James Earl Jones, and Sarah Brown in Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns, which also stars Angela Bassett.

Margaret Avery lives in Los Angeles, and remains active in the show business industry. While continuing to act, she also works with at-risk teenagers and battered women of Greater Los Angeles.

Personal life

She married Robert Gordon Hunt in January 1974. They were divorced in 1980 and have one daughter.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	Cool Breeze	Lark
1972	Terror House	Edwina
1973	Magnum Force	Prostitute
1973	Hell Up in Harlem	Sister Jennifer
1975	'	Nurse
1977	Which Way Is Up?	Annie Mae
1977	Scott Joplin	Belle Joplin
1979	'	Toby Millman
1985	'	Shug Avery	Nominated"?Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1989	Riverbend	Bell Coleman
1990	'	Francine
1993	Lightning in a Bottle	Dr. Sierheed
1993	Night Trap	Miss Sadie
1994	Cyborg 3: The Recycler	Doc Edford
1995	'	Olivia Dubois
1995	White Man's Burden	Megan Thomas
1998	Love Kills	Moon
2002	Waitin' to Live	Pearline Loggins
2002	Second to Die	Insurance agent
2007	Lord Help Us	Dorinda Thomas	Direct-to-video
2008	Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins	Mama Jenkins
2008	Meet the Browns	Sarah Brown
2009	Extrospection	Anna

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	Something Evil	Irene
1976	Louis Armstrong - Chicago Style	Alma Rae
1980	'	Rosemary
1980	'	Heather LeLache
1983	For Us, the Living	Dottie
1987	Rags To Riches	Celia Richards (Cee Cee Smith)
1989	Single Women Married Men	Grace Williams
1990	Riverbend	Bell Coleman
1990	Heat Wave	Roxie Turpin
1992	'	Martha Scruse
1992	Clair's Reunion	Leah
1998	Wie stark muss eine Liebe sein	Mary McMillian	German TV
2012	Single Ladies	Josephine	Episode: "Ex Factor"