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Novella Christine Nelson (December 17, 1939 – August 31, 2017) was an American actress and singer. She established her career as a singer, both on the off-Broadway and Broadway stage and in
New York Times
obituary {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Novella 1938 births 2017 deaths African-American actresses 20th-century African-American women singers American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Actresses from New York City People from Brooklyn Brooklyn College alumni Deaths from cancer in New York (state) 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women
Novella Christine Nelson (December 17, 1939 – August 31, 2017) was an American actress and singer. She established her career as a singer, both on the off-Broadway and Broadway stage and in cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
-style locales.
Career
Starting in 1961, Nelson had a decades-long stage career, performing, directing and producing, primarily in New York. She was a featured performer on Broadway in 1970 in the musical ''Purlie
''Purlie'' is a musical with a book by Ossie Davis, Philip Rose, and Peter Udell, lyrics by Udell and music by Gary Geld. It is based on Davis's 1961 play ''Purlie Victorious'', which was later made into the 1963 film ''Gone Are the Days!'' and w ...
''. In 1975, Nelson directed the play ''La Femme Noire'' at The Public Theater
The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...
. Her film career began at age 39 with a small part in 1977's ''An Unmarried Woman
''An Unmarried Woman'' is a 1978 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Mazursky and starring Jill Clayburgh, Alan Bates and Michael Murphy. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Original ...
'', and continued for the next several decades with roles in movies and television.
She may be best known for her role as Mrs. Tate in the 2002 movie ''Antwone Fisher
Antwone Quenton Fisher (born August 3, 1959) is an American director, screenwriter, author, and film producer.
His 2001 autobiographical book '' Finding Fish'' was a ''New York Times'' Best Seller. The 2002 film '' Antwone Fisher'' was writt ...
''.
Early life
Nelson was born on December 17, 1939 inBrooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York, to James and Evelyn (formerly Hines) Nelson. Her father was a pastor and a taxi driver. Her mother was an executive assistant at magazine publisher Women's Wear Daily
''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion".Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides infor ...
.
An African American, she attended the predominantly white Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus.
Being New York City's first publ ...
in the late 1950s, majoring in biochemistry. She took a speech class, which was an acting course, and was asked to perform in a play. For the play she took on the role of Berenice, the housekeeper, in ''The Member of the Wedding
''The Member of the Wedding'' is a 1946 novel by Southern writer Carson McCullers. It took McCullers five years to complete, although she interrupted the work for a few months to write the novella '' The Ballad of the Sad Café''.McDowell, Marga ...
'' by Carson McCullers
Carson McCullers (February 19, 1917 – September 29, 1967) was an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, essayist, and poet. Her first novel, ''The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter'' (1940), explores the spiritual isolation of misfits ...
. After being on stage in this and other plays, the future actress changed course becoming a theatre major.
Death
Nelson died of cancer on September 1, 2017, aged 77, in her nativeBrooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York.
Filmography
Film
Television
Discography
References
External links
* *New York Times
obituary {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Novella 1938 births 2017 deaths African-American actresses 20th-century African-American women singers American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Actresses from New York City People from Brooklyn Brooklyn College alumni Deaths from cancer in New York (state) 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women