Claudia McNeil
Encyclopedia
Claudia McNeil was an American actress known for premiering the role of matriarch Lena Younger in both the stage and screen productions of A Raisin in the Sun
. She later appeared in a 1981 production of the musical version of the play, Raisin
presented by Equity Library Theater. She was twice nominated for a Tony Award
, first for A Raisin in the Sun
in 1959, and again for the play Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright in 1962. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for the screen version of "A Raisin in the Sun" in 1961.
, to Marvin Spencer McNeil, an African-American, and Annie Mae Anderson McNeil, an Apache Indian. The family moved to New York City soon after her birth. She was raised by her mother after her father left the family. At the age of twelve, McNeil began working for the The Heckscher Foundation for Children
. There she met a Jewish couple who later adopted her, and McNeil became fluent in Yiddish.
She became a licensed librarian
, but soon began singing in vaudeville
theaters, and performing in nightclubs in Harlem
, Greenwich Village
and on 52nd Street. McNeil also sang for the Katherine Dunham
Dance Troupe on its South American tour.
She was advised by Ethel Waters
to begin acting, and made her New York stage debut in 1953, playing Tituba in The Crucible
at the Martin Beck Theater.
Four years later, Langston Hughes
chose her to sing in his musical play Simply Heavenly. She won critical acclaim for this role.
In 1961, she was featured in "A Raisin in the Sun" and became so identified with the part of the matriarch that she said, “There was a time when I acted the role…Now I live it.”
She also starred in the plays Tiger Tiger Burning Bright (1962), James Baldwin
's The Amen Corner
(1965), Something Different (1967), Her First Roman
(1968), Wrong Way Light-Bulb (1969) and "Contributions" (1970).
McNeil acted in films, including: The Last Angry Man
(1959) and A Raisin in the Sun
(1961), There Was a Crooked Man...
(1970), and Black Girl (1972).
She also appeared in many TV series, including: The DuPont Show of the Month (1957), The Nurses (1962), Profiles in Courage
(1965), Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
(1978), and Roots: The Next Generations
(1979).
By the time she appeared in the 1959 film The Last Angry Man
, she weighed nearly 300 pounds. But in 1978, when she sang at Michael's Pub in Manhattan, she had slimmed down to 159 pounds and commented, "I lost a whole person."
McNeil was married when she was 18 to a man who died in World War II. Her second marriage ended in divorce after two years.
She retired in 1983 and two years later moved into the Actors’ Fund Nursing Home
in Englewood Bergen County New Jersey. McNeil died there on Nov. 25, 1993 from complications related to diabetes.
A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes...
. She later appeared in a 1981 production of the musical version of the play, Raisin
Raisin (musical)
Raisin is a musical theatre adaptation of the Lorraine Hansberry play A Raisin in the Sun, with songs by Judd Woldin and Robert Brittan, and a book by Robert Nemiroff and Charlotte Zaltzberg....
presented by Equity Library Theater. She was twice nominated for a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
, first for A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes...
in 1959, and again for the play Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright in 1962. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for the screen version of "A Raisin in the Sun" in 1961.
Life and career
McNeil was born in BaltimoreBaltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, to Marvin Spencer McNeil, an African-American, and Annie Mae Anderson McNeil, an Apache Indian. The family moved to New York City soon after her birth. She was raised by her mother after her father left the family. At the age of twelve, McNeil began working for the The Heckscher Foundation for Children
The Heckscher Foundation for Children
The Heckscher Foundation for Children is a New York City-focused private foundation that provides grants to underserved New York City youth. Most often, the Foundation’s grant giving takes the form of program support, capacity-building, capital projects and general operating support...
. There she met a Jewish couple who later adopted her, and McNeil became fluent in Yiddish.
She became a licensed librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
, but soon began singing in vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
theaters, and performing in nightclubs in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
and on 52nd Street. McNeil also sang for the Katherine Dunham
Katherine Dunham
Katherine Mary Dunham was an American dancer, choreographer, songwriter, author, educator, and activist...
Dance Troupe on its South American tour.
She was advised by Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters was an American blues, jazz and gospel vocalist and actress. She frequently performed jazz, big band, and pop music, on the Broadway stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues.Her best-known recordings includes, "Dinah", "Birmingham Bertha",...
to begin acting, and made her New York stage debut in 1953, playing Tituba in The Crucible
The Crucible
The Crucible is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists...
at the Martin Beck Theater.
Four years later, Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
chose her to sing in his musical play Simply Heavenly. She won critical acclaim for this role.
In 1961, she was featured in "A Raisin in the Sun" and became so identified with the part of the matriarch that she said, “There was a time when I acted the role…Now I live it.”
She also starred in the plays Tiger Tiger Burning Bright (1962), James Baldwin
James Baldwin (writer)
James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.Baldwin's essays, for instance "Notes of a Native Son" , explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th century America,...
's The Amen Corner
The Amen Corner
The Amen Corner is a three-act play by James Baldwin. It was Baldwin's first attempt at theater following Go Tell It on the Mountain. It was first published in 1954, and inspired a short-lived 1983 Broadway musical adaptation with the slightly truncated title, Amen Corner.-Plot introduction:The...
(1965), Something Different (1967), Her First Roman
Her First Roman
Her First Roman is a musical with music, lyrics, and book by Ervin Drake, based on the 1898 George Bernard Shaw play Caesar and Cleopatra.-Original production:...
(1968), Wrong Way Light-Bulb (1969) and "Contributions" (1970).
McNeil acted in films, including: The Last Angry Man
The Last Angry Man
The Last Angry Man is a drama film which tells the story of a television producer who profiles the life of a physician. It stars Paul Muni, David Wayne, Betsy Palmer, Billy Dee Williams , and Godfrey Cambridge....
(1959) and A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes...
(1961), There Was a Crooked Man...
There Was a Crooked Man...
There Was a Crooked Man... is a 1970 western comedy starring Kirk Douglas and Henry Fonda and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The film follows Paris Pitman , a charismatic criminal who ends up in jail, and his attempts to escape the prison of warden Lopeman...
(1970), and Black Girl (1972).
She also appeared in many TV series, including: The DuPont Show of the Month (1957), The Nurses (1962), Profiles in Courage
Profiles in Courage
Profiles in Courage is a 1955 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography describing acts of bravery and integrity by eight United States Senators throughout the Senate's history. The book profiles senators who crossed party lines and/or defied the public opinion of their constituents to do what they felt was...
(1965), Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a 1976 children's novel by Mildred D. Taylor. The novel won the 1977 Newbery Medal. Its sequel, Let the Circle Be Unbroken, was released in 1981. It also has a prequel in 1975, Song of the Trees...
(1978), and Roots: The Next Generations
Roots: The Next Generations
Roots: The Next Generations is a 1979 television miniseries that continues the story of the family of Alex Haley from the 1880s, and their life in Henning, Tennessee, to the 1960s, with Haley researching his family history and his travels to Africa to learn of his ancestor, Kunta Kinte...
(1979).
By the time she appeared in the 1959 film The Last Angry Man
The Last Angry Man
The Last Angry Man is a drama film which tells the story of a television producer who profiles the life of a physician. It stars Paul Muni, David Wayne, Betsy Palmer, Billy Dee Williams , and Godfrey Cambridge....
, she weighed nearly 300 pounds. But in 1978, when she sang at Michael's Pub in Manhattan, she had slimmed down to 159 pounds and commented, "I lost a whole person."
McNeil was married when she was 18 to a man who died in World War II. Her second marriage ended in divorce after two years.
She retired in 1983 and two years later moved into the Actors’ Fund Nursing Home
Nursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
in Englewood Bergen County New Jersey. McNeil died there on Nov. 25, 1993 from complications related to diabetes.