Eliza Virginia Capers (September 22, 1925 – May 6, 2004) was an American actress.
She made a guest appearance on Married... with Children as a mourner at the wake of one "Aunt Maddie" Brown, a bakery store owner, whom Al knew as a child, whom he also remembered, made arguably the best Pumpkin Pies in Chicago, in the Season 11 episode "A Bundy Thanksgiving".
A veteran stage, film and television actress,[1][2][3] she won the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical in 1974 for her performance as Lena Younger in Raisin, a musical version of Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun.
Personal life[]
Born in Sumter, South Carolina, Capers attended Howard University and studied voice at theJuilliard School in New York City.
Career[]
She made her Broadway theater debut in the musical Jamaica in 1957 as the understudy for Adelaide Hall in the role of Grandma Obeah, taking over the role when Hall left the show. >[4] Capers went on to appear in Saratoga[5] and Raisin.[6]
Capers was a familiar face to television audiences. In addition to a recurring role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, she appeared in many television programs, including Have Gun Will Travel, Marcus Welby, M.D., My Three Sons, Mannix, The Waltons, Mork & Mindy, Highway to Heaven, St. Elsewhere, Murder, She Wrote, Evening Shade, Married... with Children, The Practice and ER.
Vjrginia appeared in such films as What's Love Got to Do with It (1993), The Great White Hope (1970), Lady Sings the Blues (1972), The Toy (1982), Teachers (1984), Norwood (1970), The North Avenue Irregulars (1979), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) and Beethoven's 2nd (1993).
Capers founded the Lafayette Players, a Los Angeles repertory theater company for African-American performers. She was the recipient of the National Black Theatre Festival Living Legend Award, the Paul Robeson Pioneer Award, and the NAACP Image Award for theater excellence.
Capers provided the narration for the adventure game Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers.
Death[]
Capers died on May 6, 2004, of complications from pneumonia in Los Angeles, California, aged 78.
References[]
- ↑ Virginia Capers, an actress with a musical touch | African American Registry. Aaregistry.org (1925-09-22). Retrieved on 2013-10-14.
- ↑ Virginia Capers (1925–2004). IMDb.com. Retrieved on 2013-10-14.
- ↑ Virginia Capers (Actress) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News. Spokeo.com. Retrieved on 2013-10-14.
- ↑ Other works for Nat Horne. IMDb.com. Retrieved on 2013-10-14.
- ↑ Ken Mandelbaum, Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops, St. Martin's Press (1991), pp. 230-33 (ISBN 0-312-06428-4).
- ↑ Raisin | IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information. IBDB. Retrieved on 2013-10-14.
