Ethel Ayler
Encyclopedia
Ethel Ayler is a veteran African-American character actress with a career spanning over five decades.
in 1934. In 1957, she made her off-Broadway
debut in the Langston Hughes
musical, Simply Heavenly. Later that year, she debuted on Brodway in the multiple Tony Award
-nominated musical, Jamaica as an understudy for Lena Horne
(also making her Broadway debut).
Another notable early performance was in Jean Genet's
play, The Blacks: A Clown Show, which ran off-Broadway
for 1,408 performances and received three Obie Award
s including for Best New Play. The impressive cast of black
actors included three future Academy Award nominees: James Earl Jones
, Cicely Tyson
and Louis Gossett, Jr.
.
Throughout her career, Ayler has appeared frequently with the Negro Ensemble Company
. This includes notable performances in The First Breeze of Summer, Eden
and Nevis Mountain Dew
.
On television, Ayler had a recurring role as Carrie Hanks, Claire Huxtable's mother on The Cosby Show
. She has also made memorable performances in the films To Sleep with Anger
(1990) and Eve's Bayou
(1997).
For her work in To Sleep with Anger
, Ayler received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best supporting female.
Ayler's most recent Broadway appearance was in another Tony-nominated production, The Little Foxes in 1997.
Biography
Ayler was born in Whistler, AlabamaWhistler, Alabama
Whistler, Alabama, was an unincorporated town in Mobile County, until the 1950s when it was annexed into neighboring Prichard. The founding of Whistler, in the 1850s, coincided with construction of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. The M & O, an early land grant railroad, eventually extended from...
in 1934. In 1957, she made her off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
debut in the 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...
musical, Simply Heavenly. Later that year, she debuted on Brodway in the multiple 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...
-nominated musical, Jamaica as an understudy for Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
(also making her Broadway debut).
Another notable early performance was in Jean Genet's
Jean Genet
Jean Genet was a prominent and controversial French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but later took to writing...
play, The Blacks: A Clown Show, which ran off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
for 1,408 performances and received three Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
s including for Best New Play. The impressive cast of black
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
actors included three future Academy Award nominees: James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
, Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson is an American actress. A successful stage actress, Tyson is also known for her Oscar-nominated role in the film Sounder and the television movies The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Roots....
and Louis Gossett, Jr.
Louis Gossett, Jr.
Louis Cameron Gossett, Jr. is an American actor best known for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman and Fiddler in the 1970s television miniseries Roots...
.
Throughout her career, Ayler has appeared frequently with the Negro Ensemble Company
Negro Ensemble Company
The Negro Ensemble Company is a New York City-based theater company. Established in 1967 by playwright Douglas Turner Ward, producer/actor Robert Hooks, and theater manager Gerald S...
. This includes notable performances in The First Breeze of Summer, Eden
Eden (play)
Eden is a 1976 play by American playwright Steve Carter. Set in the 1920s, it is the first of Carter's Caribbean trilogy. Eden explores intra-racial conflicts between recent immigrants from the Caribbean and the African-American population...
and Nevis Mountain Dew
Nevis Mountain Dew
Nevis Mountain Dew is a 1978 play by American playwright steve carter . Set in the 1950s, it is the second of Carter's Caribbean trilogy. Nevis Mountain Dew explores the subject of euthanasia involving the patriarch of an affluent family who is confined to an iron lung.-Characters:Jared Philibert:...
.
On television, Ayler had a recurring role as Carrie Hanks, Claire Huxtable's mother on The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
. She has also made memorable performances in the films To Sleep with Anger
To Sleep With Anger
To Sleep with Anger is a 1990 drama film directed and written by Charles Burnett.-Plot:Harry Mention , an enigmatic drifter from the South, comes to visit an old acquaintance named Gideon , who now lives in South-Central Los Angeles...
(1990) and Eve's Bayou
Eve's Bayou
Eve's Bayou is a 1997 American drama film written and directed by Kasi Lemmons, who made her directorial debut with this feature. Samuel L...
(1997).
For her work in To Sleep with Anger
To Sleep With Anger
To Sleep with Anger is a 1990 drama film directed and written by Charles Burnett.-Plot:Harry Mention , an enigmatic drifter from the South, comes to visit an old acquaintance named Gideon , who now lives in South-Central Los Angeles...
, Ayler received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best supporting female.
Ayler's most recent Broadway appearance was in another Tony-nominated production, The Little Foxes in 1997.
Theatre
| Year | Production | Role | Theatre(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | The Little Foxes | Addie | Vivian Beaumont Theatre Vivian Beaumont Theatre The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a theatre located in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The structure was designed by Finnish American architect Eero Saarinen, and Jo Mielziner was responsible for the design of the stage and interior.The Vivian... |
|
| 1987 | Fences | Bono Gabriel Rose (understudy) |
46th Street Theatre | |
| 1983 | Sons and Fathers of Sons | Sister 3 | Theatre Four | |
| 1981 | Weep Not for Me | Lillian Hendricks | Theatre Four | |
| 1978 | Nevis Mountain Dew Nevis Mountain Dew Nevis Mountain Dew is a 1978 play by American playwright steve carter . Set in the 1950s, it is the second of Carter's Caribbean trilogy. Nevis Mountain Dew explores the subject of euthanasia involving the patriarch of an affluent family who is confined to an iron lung.-Characters:Jared Philibert:... |
Zepora Philibert | St. Mark's Playhouse | |
| 1976 | Eden Eden (play) Eden is a 1976 play by American playwright Steve Carter. Set in the 1920s, it is the first of Carter's Caribbean trilogy. Eden explores intra-racial conflicts between recent immigrants from the Caribbean and the African-American population... |
Florie | St. Mark's Playhouse | |
| 1975 | The First Breeze of Summer | Hattie | St. Mark's Playhouse | Also appeared in the 1976 Movie of the Week. |
| Black Picture Show | Rita (understudy) | Vivian Beaumont Theatre Vivian Beaumont Theatre The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a theatre located in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The structure was designed by Finnish American architect Eero Saarinen, and Jo Mielziner was responsible for the design of the stage and interior.The Vivian... |
||
| 1974 | Les Femmes Noires | Mrs. Thompson | The Other Stage | |
| 1961 | Kwamina | Naii | 54th Street Theatre | |
| The Blacks: A Clown Show | Augustus Snow | St. Mark's Playhouse | ||
| 1960 | The Cool World | Woman at the Beach | Eugene O'Neill Theatre Eugene O'Neill Theatre The Eugene O'Neill Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 230 West 49th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, it was built for the Shuberts as part of a theatre-hotel complex named for 19th century tragedian Edwin Forrest... |
|
| 1957 | Jamaica | Island Woman Islander Savannah (understudy) |
Imperial Theatre | |
| Simply Heavenly | Zarita | 85th Street Playhouse |
Film
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Eve's Bayou Eve's Bayou Eve's Bayou is a 1997 American drama film written and directed by Kasi Lemmons, who made her directorial debut with this feature. Samuel L... |
Gran Mere | |
| 1992 | The Bodyguard The Bodyguard The Bodyguard is a 1992 American romantic-thriller film starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. Costner stars as a former Secret Service Agent turned bodyguard who is hired to protect Houston's character, a music star, from an unknown stalker. Lawrence Kasdan wrote the film in the 1970s,... |
Emma | |
| 1990 | To Sleep with Anger To Sleep With Anger To Sleep with Anger is a 1990 drama film directed and written by Charles Burnett.-Plot:Harry Mention , an enigmatic drifter from the South, comes to visit an old acquaintance named Gideon , who now lives in South-Central Los Angeles... |
Hattie | Independent Spirit Award nomination, Best Supporting Female |
| 1986 | 9½ Weeks 9½ Weeks 9½ Weeks is a 1986 erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. It is based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth McNeill.... |
Jewelry Saleswoman | |
| 1972 | Come Back, Charleston Blue Come Back, Charleston Blue Come Back Charleston Blue is a 1972 film starring Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques, loosely based on Chester Himes' novel The Heat's On. It is a sequel to the 1970 film Cotton Comes to Harlem.-Plot:... |
Matron at Ball | |
| 1962 | Time of the Heathen | Marie |