Irma P. Hall, the American actress known for playing Big Mama in the film “Soul Food,” died Tuesday, November 10, in Dallas at the age of 91. The family announced her death in a statement published on Wednesday.
Family statement
The family described Hall as “a beloved actress, author, poet, teacher and speaker whose work touched countless people.” The statement also said her “legacy of talent, dedication and compassion will inspire generations to come.” No cause of death was given. The family asked for privacy and said it would share information about memorial services later.
The actress’s only daughter, Irma Hall Crayton, said her mother “started out as a classroom teacher and ended up as a teacher for the whole world.”
Who Irma P. Hall was
She was born Irma Dolores Player on June 3, 1935, in Beaumont, Texas. In 1942 the family moved to Chicago. Hall graduated from Texas College in 1956 and for years taught foreign languages, including French and Spanish, in schools in Houston and Dallas. She returned to acting full time in 1984.
She was active in Texas theater. She co-founded the Dallas Minority Repertory Theatre, established in 1972, and the African American Repertory Theatre in DeSoto. She entered film in 1973, when actor and director Raymond St. Jacques cast her in “Book of Numbers” after seeing her at a poetry evening.
Key roles
Her greatest popularity came from the role of Josephine “Big Mama” Joseph, the matriarch of a Chicago family, in the 1997 dramedy “Soul Food.” For this performance she received the 1998 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress. The film was a box office success and spawned the series “Soul Food: The Series,” in which Hall returned to her role in fantasy sequences.
In 1996 she played Aunt T in “A Family Thing,” and a year later appeared in Clint Eastwood’s “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” as the conjurer Minerva. In 2004 she played Marva Munson, a religious landlady, in the Coen brothers’ “The Ladykillers,” alongside Tom Hanks. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and Hall earned another NAACP Image Award nomination for her role.
She also appeared in “Patch Adams” with Robin Williams, “Collateral” with Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, “Beloved,” and the series “Meet the Browns.” Her film career spanned nearly five decades. She was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame.
Faith and family
Hall was a member of a church community in Dallas. Pastor Rush, who had known her since her youth, recalled that during a public speaking class she told him: “One day you will be my pastor.” The actress is survived by her children and grandchildren.
