Scopri di pi su Beah Richards su Apple TV. NOTE: Richards starred in a 1970 Broadway production of the book. Although critics noted her talents as wide-ranging and extraordinary, she was not considered a Hollywood beauty like Lena Home or Dorothy Dandridge. Besides the stage and films, Richards had a distinguished career in television. (1987), Time Out For Dad We are women all, In 1951, she moved to New York to launch an acting career. [citation needed], As a writer, she wrote the verse performance piece A Black Woman Speaks, a collection of 14 poems, in which she points out that white women played an important role in oppressing women of color. English king ITHAKA. Why Netflix is dabbling in livestreaming, Stranger Things play that may hold key to the end taking 1959 Hawkins to West End. So be careful when you talk with me. In 1950 Richards moved to New York City. Too ill to receive her Emmy at the ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday night, Richards was presented with the award Sept. 1 in Vicksburg by Lisa Gay Hamilton, one of the co-stars of The Practice., Richards was recognized for a moving portrayal of an elderly Alzheimers patient whose daughter was trying to end her new marriage. Poitier also worked with Richards in the 1967 film In the Heat of the Night, in which she played an abortionist. On television she starred for two years in The Bill Cosby Show, and went on to appear in a number of other notable series; Hill Street Blues, Murder She Wrote and the mini-series Roots: The Next Generations (1979). Even at a young age, people said she was destined for the theater. Richards, who died Sept. 14 in Vicksburg, Miss., was 80. She moved on to San Diego, California, where she joined a regional theater troupe. Occasionally getting small parts, she supported herself by becoming an instructor in a charm school. Like Angela Lansbury, Richards was often called on to portray the mother of actors not much younger than herself (e.g., she was a mere seven years Beloved By using this site, you agree to our updated. Beah Richards won an Emmy just days before her death in 2000. Published 2006 by . List of journal articles on the topic 'Blue Star Mothers of America'. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). In the preface, she spoke of the need to see how it is that blacks and whites agree so little culturally. Her views on the impact of a segregated society and on the prejudices against women are clear in her verse. Beah Richards, an extraordinary actress, writer and activist by Herb Boyd August 19, 2021 Before she was Beah Richards, a commanding presence on stage, screen and television, she was Beulah. Elaine Woo is a Los Angeles native who has written for her hometown paper since 1983. For her last cinema role, in Beloved (1998) as Baby Suggs, she was nominated as outstanding supporting actress in a motion picture. Richards was voted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1974. Richards grew up in an environment of racial hostility. They are going to have to write the stuff and do it. [citation needed], As a writer, she wrote the verse performance piece A Black Woman Speaks, a collection of 14 poems, in which she points out that white women played an important role in oppressing women of color. Discover Beah Richards's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. However, the year brought Richards the most attention for a movie that received so-so reviews but gave Katharine Hepburn the Best Actress Oscar. . Scholarly publications with full text pdf download. Law, Highway to Heaven and Designing Women. In 1970 Richards replaced Lillian Randolph as Bill Cosbys mother on The Bill Cosby Show., Film credits include Drugstore Cowboy, In the Heat of the Night (also with Poitier), The Great White Hope and Hurry Sundown., Richards also appeared in three of her own plays: A Black Woman Speaks, One Is a Crowd and her one-woman show in 1979, An Evening With Beah Richards.. Set during the Polish-Soviet War of 19191920, Babels novel captured the indiscriminate violence and injustice of warfare. Beah Richards was born Beulah Richardson in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1926. Beah Richards Quotes - BrainyQuote American - Actress July 12, 1926 - September 14, 2000 Both class and race survive education, and neither should. In 1948, she graduated from Dillard University in New Orleans, and two years later moved toNew York City. White supremacy is your enemy and mine, Activist and educator Louise Thompson Patterson approached Richards after hearing her poem to ask her if shed be interested in forming a political group. She appeared in the original Broadway productions of Purlie Victorious, The Miracle Worker, and A Raisin in the Sun. ", Wrote first stage play "One Is a Crowd" (also acted), Appeared as Aunt Ethel on "Sanford and Son" (NBC), Featured in the ABC miniseries "Roots: The Next Generations", Began appearances in one-woman show "An Evening with Beah Richards"; also wrote the piece, Won an Emmy Award as Best Guest Actress on an acclaimed episode of the CBS series "Frank's Place", Made one-shot return to films in "Beloved" playing Baby Suggs, Earned second Emmy Award for guest performance as an elderly woman whose daughter is seeking legal recourse to nullify her mother's marriage on "The Practice" (ABC). Richards was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1974. Canadian hockey player North Korea's situation currently relates to this book.This is what makes North Korea a country with dictatorship, propaganda, and communism.show more content. 2 (Fall 2016), pp. so we share a mutual death at the hand of tyranny. Hamilton's film, Beah: A Black Woman Speaks, is intelligently titled after Richard's outstanding poem, A Black Woman Speaks. During the 70s, Richards appeared in two plays she had written "One Is a Crowd" (1970) and "A Black Woman Speaks" (1975) and also developed a one-woman show "An Evening with Beah Richards. (1975), A Dream for Christmas Most of her friends and fellow performers felt that Richards never received the recognition that she was due, partly because of the standards of the time and the roles into which she was cast. Hepburn and Tracy are perplexed and not particularly thrilled with the idea of this mixed marriage, but then neither are Poitiers parents, the mother played by Beah Richards, in all her dignified, quiet glory. She is among the Black women who actively participated in movements affiliated with the CPUSA between 1917s Bolshevik Revolution and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchevs 1956 revelations. She also appeared in the miniseries, Roots: The Next Generation. Other series credits include a recurring role as a voodoo priestess on "Beauty and the Beast" (CBS, 1987-89) and as Markie Post's childhood nursemaid in "Hearts Afire" (CBS, 1992). [1], Richards was nominated for a Tony Award for her 1965 performance in James Baldwins The Amen Corner. However, the date of retrieval is often important. For the movie, she was cast not as the hero's grandmother, but as his mother. "Sometimes she looks like. The novel A Long Way Gone written by Ishmael Beah is about how rebels are taking over Ishmael's home are controlling everything using the locals fear to control. Written by. Adapting these for the stage, she went on tour with a show called An Evening With Beah Richards. Beulah Elizabeth Richardson (July 12, 1920 - September 14, 2000), known professionally as Beah Richards and Bea Richards, was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. A Tragic Background Award-winning actress, poet, and playwright who became known for her role in the 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. beah richards one is a crowd. September 16, 2000 Beah Richards, the African-American actress whose stage career coincided with the great flourishing of black drama in the 1950s and 1960s leading her to film and TV roles. (1989), Homer and Eddie Bogle, Donald. . She had been suffering from emphysema for some time. It was Guess Whos Coming To Dinner. document.getElementById( "ak_js_3" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); JSTOR Daily provides context for current events using scholarship found in JSTOR, a digital library of academic journals, books, and other material. This fabled orchid breeder loves to chat just not about Trader Joes orchids, Sweetie Pies alum Tim Norman gets life sentence for planned execution of nephew, Fox News finally reveals its kryptonite: the bottom line, Unlike Andor, Mandalorian is going all in on Star Wars lore. Occasionally getting small parts, she supported herself by becoming an instructor in a charm school. By 1956, she had made her off-Broadway debut as a grandmother in a production of Take a Giant Step, a play by Louis S. Peterson about a black teenagers struggles in a white world. She appeared in the original Broadway productions of Purlie Victorious, The Miracle Worker, and A Raisin in the Sun. Richard I Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. Beah Richards poems, quotations and biography on Beah Richards poet page. Although the film is sometimes criticised as ponderous and simplistic today, its theme of interracial marriage between a young black doctor and the daughter of seemingly liberal white parents provoked controversy and interest in 1967, and Richards' success as the supportive Mrs Prentice gained her considerable attention. Beah Richards (Beulah Richardson), an actor perhaps best known for her work in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, wrote "A Black Woman Speaks of White Womanhood, of White Supremacy, of Peace" in 1950, and first performed it at the American People's Peace Congress, " a radical multiracial peace network that the U.S. State Department denounced for Beah Richards: A Black Woman Speaks of White Womanhood This powerful piece by Beulah (Beah) Elizabeth Richardson, presented to a Chicago conference audience of predominantly white, married women in 1951, is scarcely available for reflection today. 12:00 a.m. Sept. 17, 2000 For the Record Los Angeles Times Sunday September 17, 2000 Home Edition Metro Part B Page 5 Metro Desk 2 inches; 43 words Type of Material: Correction Beah Richards--An obituary on actress Beah Richards that appeared in Saturdays Times contained an incorrect address for Theatre of Hearts/Youth First, an organization designated by the family for memorial donations. Subsequently Richards recreated her stage roles of Viney in "The Miracle Worker" (1962) and Idella in "Gone Are the Days!/Purlie Victorious" (1963). She received the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and the Theatre World Award. Find the perfect charity required stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. Vicksburg did not have a theater then, and if it did have one, blacks would not have been allowed. 12:00 a.m. Sept. 17, 2000: For the Record Los Angeles Times Sunday September 17, 2000 Home Edition Metro Part B Page 5 Metro Desk 2 inches; 43 words Type of Material: Correction Beah Richards--An obituary on actress Beah Richards that appeared in Saturdays Times contained an incorrect address for Theatre of Hearts/Youth First, an organization designated by the family for memorial donations. When you work with an actor who penetrates your creative space and penetrates in a positive way, bringing new energy on which you can feed, then of course that actor has to be considered special.. But the groups impact is still felt. the german corner food truck menu; role of nurse in health care delivery system. Despite their pleading self-defense, the court found them guilty of murder and sentenced all three to death following a trial that lasted a single day. . 1842 S Sycamore Ave is located in Mid City, Los Angeles. She was honored by the Cinema Society with the Paul Robeson Pioneer Award. Sojourning for Freedom: Black Women, American Communism, and the Making of Black Left Feminism, McDuffie, Erik S. "Throughout the Party, they advanced Black liberation, women's rights, decolonization, economic justice, peace, and international solidarity. (1985), A Christmas Without Snow The documentary Beah: A Black Woman Speaks was created from over 70 hours of their conversations. As a playwright, she wrote "A Black Woman Speaks," "One is a Crowd," and "An Evening with Beah Richards," all of which she also performed. But for Beah Richards, who has died aged 74, it meant freedom and rejection of life in a town in which she claimed to have suffered racism "every day of my life". As the Sojourners wrote, [We are] an all Negro womans organization dedicated to the cause of winning complete freedom and liberty for Negro Americans, but specifically and presently to fight for the release of Rosa Ingram from a Georgia prison.. She also published poetry. [4], Richards was known professionally as Beah Richards,[5] and is also referred to in several sources as Bea Richards.[2][6][7]. Most of her friends and fellow performers felt that Richards never received the recognition that she was due, partly because of the standards of the time and the roles into which she was cast. It was not produced until decades later. Then Richards landed a role in the 1954 off-Broadway production of Take a Giant Step. Although critics were lukewarm to the play, which ran just 12 weeks, her performance was highly touted by all. But Richards was highly praised for her compelling performance. (1961) Stage: Appeared (as "Idella Landy") in "Purlie Victorious" on Broadway. Quiet, soft-spoken Beah Richards had a long and distinguished theater, film, and television career that began in the 1950s. She was also a poet, playwright, author and activist. She appeared in Roots: The Next Generations as Cynthia Murray Palmer, the grandmother of Alex Haley. [4] She was later a sponsor of the National United Committee to Free Angela Davis. However, in 1973 she spoke at a Boston University conference on Black Images in Film: Stereotyping and Self-Perception as Viewed by Black Actresses. Commenting that the best attack against stereotyping is simply not going to those films. Notable movie appearances include The Amen Corner (1965), Guess Whos Coming to Dinner (1967), Hurry Sundown, The Great White Hope, Beloved and In the Heat of the Night. [1], Richards was nominated for a Tony Award for her 1965 performance in James Baldwin's The Amen Corner. If it doesn't help a human being to recognize that humanity is humanity, what is it for? Richardss other film credits included: The Great White Hope (1970), The Biscuit Eater (1972), Mohogany (1975), Inside Out (1987), Big Shots (1987), and Drugstore Cowboy (1989). She also appeared in the miniseries, Roots: The Next Generation. 2000 (Unknown) County Beah Richards' remains were cremated and the ashes scattered in a cemetery in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The bride will be at tended by the bridegroom's sister. Beah Richards is best known as an actor, but in 1951 she wrote a sweeping poem that influenced the Civil Rights Movement. Beah Richards, who was briefly married to Hugh Harrell in the 1960s, died in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on September 14, 2000. Privacy Policy Contact Us [3], From the 1930s to the late 1950s, Richards was a member and organizer with the Communist Party USA in Los Angeles after befriending artist Paul Robeson. She appeared in Roots: The Next Generations as Cynthia Murray Palmer, the grandmother of Alex Haley. Richards was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her supporting role in the film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner in 1968, as well as winning two Primetime Emmy Awards for her guest roles in the television series Frank's Place in 1988 and The Practice in 2000. When the British director Philip Leacock filmed the play in 1959, she reprised the role, thus escaping the typecasting that might have followed her screen debut as a maid in The Mugger (1958). And they will.". During the 1970s she appeared in three of her own plays--A Black Woman Speaks, based on a book of her poetry by the same title, and One Is a Crowd. She wrote and starred in a one-woman show, An Evening with Beah Richards, in 1979. Richards was also a poet and playwright. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. Available for both RF and RM licensing. . (1950 Summer) Her play, "One is A Crowd," was performed in the Falstaff Tavern production at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California. Inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame for her legit work, she also directed the stage play Piano Bar for the Los Angeles Inner City Cultural Center during the 1986-87 season. She moved to New York in 1951 and by 1956 appeared Off Broadway in the production Take a Giant Step. Three years later, she made her screen debut in an adaptation of the play, which chronicled a black teenagers struggles in a white world. Vicksburg did not have a theater then, and if it did have one, blacks would not have been allowed. View gallery. Awards: Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, inducted, 1974; Emmy award, for Franks Place, 1988; Oscar nomination, Best Supporting Actress, for Beloved, 1998; Emmy Award, for The Practice, 2000. also starred in In the Heat of the Night. She speaks to white women, urging them to remember history, and she cites women of both races as victims of white supremacists. Richards was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her supporting role in the film Guess Whos Coming to Dinner in 1968, as well as winning two Primetime Emmy Awards for her guest roles in the television series Franks Place in 1988 and The Practice in 2000. Beulah Elizabeth Richardson was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi; her mother was a seamstress, and her father was a Baptist minister. LisaGay Hamilton, an African-American actor who met Richards on the movie set of Beloved, was fascinated with Richards' poetry, her struggle as an actor, and the influence she had as an African-American activist. Official Sites Directed by Howard Da Silva. Richards returned home to Vicksburg, Miss., from Los Angeles inMay. ", Apprenticed at the San Diego Community Theater (dates approximate), Off-Broadway debut, "Take a Giant Step"; played a grandmother, Made feature film debut recreating her stage role of the grandmother in "Take a Giant Step", Featured in "The Miracle Worker" on Broadway, Was understudy to Claudia McNeil in the role of Lena Younger in the Broadway production "A Raisin in the Sun", Reprised stage role in the film version of "The Miracle Worker", Won acclaim for her leading performance on Broadway in "The Amen Corner", Earned Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? Comedy. (1967), Gone Are the Days! She was seen on Sanford and Son, Hill St. Blues, L.A. Law, Highway to Heaven, and Designing Women, as well as in a recurring role on ER. (1994), One Special Victory Richards was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. In the minds of many, Cicely Tyson is the embodiment of black womanhood. Richards attended Dillard University in New Orleans. Beah Richards was not only a talented stage, screen, and television performer. (1960), The Mugger She was also a poet, playwright, author and activist. Fame Brought Its Own Troubles 1842 S Sycamore Ave was last sold on Mar 4, 2021 for $1,100,000. Comedy. Play Drama Original. Most, if not all, ancient civilizations practiced this institution and it is described (and defended) in early writings of the Sumerians, Babyl Portuguese explorers first landed in northeast Brazil in 1500. Beah Richards (July 12, 1920 - September 14, 2000) was an American actress of stage, screen and television. 4, No. (1955) Stage: Appeared in "Take a Giant Step" off-Broadway. The year 1967 was very busy for Richards in Hollywood. Four days earlier, she had won an Emmy for her guest appearance as a woman suffering from Alzheimers disease on ABCs The Practice. (1973), Outrage! Related research topic ideas. Encyclopedia.com. A move to New York in the early 1950s, to play the role of the grandmother in Take a Giant Step, boosted her career. Contemporary Black Biography. Richards herself once said, as quoted in Jet, that she had played everybodys mother. And in fact, it was the role of Sidney Poitiers mother in Guess Whos Coming to Dinner that earned her an Academy Award nomination. She played Mammy Rose in Hurry Sundown. Lonely at the Top Im fighting now for our unity. (1980), Ring of Passion Her first of three plays was Alls Well That Ends, which deals with segregation. Retrieved February 22, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/richards-beah-1926-2000. 3/4, RGC Intersectionalilty, Race, Gender, Class, Health, Justice Issues (2014), pp. In 1959 she played in The Miracle Worker and was the understudy for Claudia McNeil in A Raisin in the Sun, going on the national tour in the role of Leah Younger. 1430 Prince Henry the Navigator sailed around the southern coast of Africa around Madeiras and Azores and around the western bulge near Cabo de No to survey the kingdoms of the moors and their true Portuguese Role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, NYCs Early African American Settlements Weeksville. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Beah Richards in a still from the film, "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner. (1986), Too Good to Be True As Pelak writes, Richards writing from the 1950s demonstrates that although the term intersectionality may have been coined in the late 1980s, the theorizing of intersecting systems of inequalities was not new.. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. She was 74. (2) She received a Theater World Award. For members of the Hip Hop generation who came of age during the Black Power era, reality rap was an entry into the political power of Black history. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Despite advancing ideas that are still active today, the Sojourners were short-lived, dissolving in 1952. Acclaimed actress Beah Richards, whose second Emmy Award was announced Sunday night to an international audience, died Thursday afternoon at her Vicksburg home. Without question, she was hurt. //]]>. Two of her sons came to her defense, killing her attacker. What did Disney actually lose from its Florida battle with DeSantis? The correct address is 400 S. Lafayette Park Place, Suite 307, Los Angeles, CA 90057. "Richards, Beah 19262000 Born on July 12, 1926, in Vicksburg, MS; died on September 14, 2000; daughter of Wesley and Belulah Richardson; married Hugh Harrell (divorced). Without question, she was hurt. This was to change as Hollywood timidly began to show a concern for race in entertainment movies, rather than simply those designated as "problem pictures". Have a correction or comment about this article? The Estimated Net worth is $80K USD $85k. She was also a poet, playwright, author and activist. She left The Times in 2015. Spencer Tracy's last film and last with Katharine Hepburn was this story of a liberal couple tested when their daughter brings home a black fiancee. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Her father was a minister and her mother was a seamstress. Richards is survived by two nieces, two nephews, three great nephews and a great niece. (1967), Hurry Sundown For the Record Los Angeles Times Saturday September 23, 2000 Home Edition Metro Part B Page 6 Metro Desk 1 inches; 23 words Type of Material: Correction Beah Richards--A Sept. 16 obituary gave an incorrect age for veteran stage and film actress Beah Richards. It was there that acting became a reality for her. | In addition, she was a playwright and a poet. She also received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in the 1965 production of The Amen Corner. )-2000) Born in Vicksburg, MS; married Hugh Harrell. Written by Ossie Davis. (1958), Zora Is My Name! The documentary Beah: A Black Woman Speaks was created from over 70 hours of their conversations. Publicity Listings Richards herself once said, as quoted in Jet, that she had played everybodys mother. And in fact, it was the role of Sidney Poitiers mother in Guess Whos Coming to Dinner that earned her an Academy Award nomination. Hepburn, with Spencer Tracy, play socialite white parents who learn that their daughter is about to marry a well-educated, intelligent black man, played by Sidney Poitier, who. Four days earlier, she had won an Emmy for her guest appearance as a woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease on ABC's The Practice. Selected filmography: Richardss other film credits included: The Great White Hope (1970), The Biscuit Eater (1972), Mahogany (1975), Inside Out (1987), Big Shots (1987), and Drugstore Cowboy (1989). She was not allowed to check books out of the public library and, while on her way to school, she had even been stoned by white children. Subsequent films included Mahogany (1975), Big Shots (1987), Homer & Eddie (1989) and Drugstore Cowboy (1989). Biography Robinson (a real-life wrestler-turned-actor) is idolized by the young boy. (1982), The Sophisticated Gents Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Daisy Jones & the Six becomes the first fictional band to hit No. Jr. High - Adult African American Studies, Film Studies, Poetry, Theater Richards, who lived in Los Angeles for many years and recently returned to her hometown of Vicksburg, Miss., died there Thursday of emphysema. window.__mirage2 = {petok:"Rc13bZlWzXA7wfbWLofZXMK.fL6eHRNSK48mR1RPRYg-86400-0"}; But for Beah Richards, who has died aged 74, it meant freedom and rejection of life in a town in which she claimed to have suffered racism "every day of my life". It was there that acting became a reality for her. dramatizing the life and work of writer and cultural anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston. | The Best Poem Of Beah Richards 'Freedom is . Beulah Elizabeth Richardson (July 12, 1920 - September 14, 2000), known professionally as Beah Richards and Bea Richards, was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. One of the things that characterizes the standout actors among us all, Poitier said Friday, is [range] and her range was such that it accommodated theater, film, television, the lecture stage. She was 74. It was Guess Whos Coming To Dinner. 1921-2000 Take a Giant Step was one of the thoughtful dramas about race that proliferated in the 1950s, including A Raisin in the Sun, where she understudied the lead on Broadway and played in later productions. Book: "A Black Woman Speaks and Other Poems". All Rights Reserved. Will you fight with me? R ichard I, better known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard the Lion-Hearted, was one of the Mi, Tyson, Cicely 1933 In the last year of her life, Richards was the subject of a documentary created by actress Lisa Gay Hamilton. Also that year, she played in In the Heat of the Night, which won Best Picture, Oscar. The current Trulia Estimate for 1842 S Sycamore Ave . Hepburn, with Spencer Tracy, plays socialite white parents who learn that their daughter is about to marry a well-educated, intelligent black man, played by Sidney Poitier, who also starred in In the Heat of the Night. Beah Richards, who was briefly married to Hugh Harrell in the 1960s, died in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on September 14, 2000. Beah Richards, a veteran stage performer and character actor whose best work included her Oscar-nominated portrayal of Sidney Poitier's mother in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" and who won an. The daughter of a minister, Richards discovered a passion for acting while she was a student at New Orleans Dillard University. The 20-year-old from Dundee, Scotland, sent sick . One of her poems, "Keep Climbing, Girls", has been turned into a picture book inspiring girls' power. Richards discovered acting while attending New Orleans Dillard U. She made her film debut three years later, when she was cast in the screen adaptation of the play. Just four days. She made numerous guest television appearances, including roles on Beauty and the Beast, The Bill Cosby Show, 227, Sanford and Son, Benson, Designing Women, The Facts of Life, The Practice, Murder, She Wrote, The Big Valley and ER (as Dr. Peter Benton's mother.)