Tonea Stewart (born February 3, 1947), also Tommie Stewart, is an American actress and university professor. She is the former

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the College of Visual and Performing Arts of

Alabama State University Alabama State University (ASU) is a public historically black university in Montgomery, Alabama. Founded in 1867, ASU is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. History Alabama State University was founded in 1867 as the Lin ...

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

.Catherine Bullock (February 12, 2016)
ASU Dean honored with Mississippi Governor’s Arts Award
''Montgomery Advertiser''. Accessed January 2018. She had a recurring role as Aunt Etta Kibby in the American television series '' In the Heat of the Night'', and is an

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

nominee for acting in film '' A Time to Kill''. From the beginning of her acting career until 2019, Stewart concurrently worked as an actress and educator; she did not act full time until her retirement from teaching.

Early life and education

Stewart was born in Greenwood,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, the daughter of Hattie (née Leonard) and Thomas Harris. Her father worked as an electrician and plumber, while Stewart's mother was an educator. They would divorce when Stewart was 4 years old. Her sister, Beverly Branson, is a singer, and the two have performed together on stage. Her original intention was to become a doctor, and she studied biology at

Jackson State University Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...

. However, after acting in a school production, Stewart changed her major to theater. She earned a BS degree in speech and theater at Jackson, and then studied theater at the

University of California at Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

. In 1989, Stewart received a PhD in theater arts from

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

Acting career

Stewart's first performance on screen was in TV movie ''

Nightmare in Badham County ''Nightmare in Badham County'' is a 1976 American women-in-prison television film directed by John Llewellyn Moxey and starring Chuck Connors, Deborah Raffin, and Lynne Moody. Its plot follows two female college students from California who, w ...

'' (1976). She appeared as Mrs. Walker in film ''

Mississippi Burning ''Mississippi Burning'' is a 1988 American crime thriller film directed by Alan Parker that is loosely based on the 1964 murder investigation of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner in Mississippi. It stars Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe as two FBI ...

'' (1988). From 1991 to 1993, Stewart played Aunt Etta Kibby on '' In the Heat of the Night''. On the series, she had previously portrayed a different character, and returned under this new role as producers were impressed with her performance. Stewart acted in the feature films ''

Body Snatchers Body snatching is the illicit removal of corpses from graves, morgues, and other burial sites. Body snatching is distinct from the act of grave robbery as grave robbing does not explicitly involve the removal of the corpse, but rather theft from ...

'', ''

Livin' Large ''Livin' Large!'' is a 1991 comedy film starring Terrence "T.C." Carson, Lisa Arrindell Anderson, and Loretta Devine. Plot Dexter Jackson (Carson) is a young, black deliveryman in Atlanta, Georgia, who aspires to become a news reporter. He ...

'', ''

Mississippi Damned ''Mississippi Damned'' is a 2009 American drama film directed by Tina Mabry and starring Tessa Thompson, D. B. Woodside, Malcolm Goodwin, Malcolm David Kelley and Michael Hyatt. The film was written and directed by Tina Mabry, based on her life ...

'' and '' Girls Trip''. She has made guest appearances on television series '' Matlock'', ''

Walker, Texas Ranger ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film ''Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both this series and that film starring Chuck Norris as a member of the Texa ...

'', '' ER'' and ''

Touched by an Angel ''Touched by an Angel'' is an American fantasy drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994, and ran for 211 episodes over nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and executive produced ...

''. She played Gwen Hailey, the wife of

Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...

's character, in '' A Time to Kill'' (1996). Stewart received an

nomination for her work in this film. In ''

Come Sunday "Come Sunday" is a piece by Duke Ellington, which became a jazz standard. It was written in 1942 as a part of the first movement of a suite entitled ''Black, Brown and Beige''. Ellington was engaged for a performance at Carnegie Hall on Januar ...

'' (2018), she portrayed the mother of Pentecostal bishop

Carlton Pearson Carlton D'metrius Pearson (born March 19, 1953) is an American minister and gospel music artist. At one time, he was the pastor of the Higher Dimensions Evangelistic Center Incorporated, later named the Higher Dimensions Family Church, which was ...

. The majority of Stewart's work has been in television films. She acted in ''

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings ''I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'' is a 1969 autobiography describing the young and early years of American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first in a seven-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of charact ...

'', '' Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy 'Satchel' Paige'' (portraying the mother of

Satchel Paige Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction in ...

) and ''

The Rosa Parks Story ''The Rosa Parks Story'' is a 2002 American television movie written by Paris Qualles and directed by Julie Dash. Angela Bassett portrays Rosa Parks, with Cicely Tyson in a supporting role as her mother. It was broadcast by CBS on February 24, 2 ...

'', where she appeared as

Johnnie Carr Johnnie Rebecca Daniels Carr (January 26, 1911 – February 22, 2008) was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from 1955 until her death. Personal life Carr was born on January 26, 1911, to parents John and Annie Richmond D ...

. In 1994, Stewart appeared in the TV movies '' One Christmas'' as Evangeline and ''A Passion for Justice: The

Hazel Brannon Smith Hazel Freeman Smith (née Brannon; February 4, 1914 – May 15, 1994) was an American journalist and publisher, the owner and editor of four weekly newspapers in rural Mississippi, mostly in Holmes County. Her newspapers included the ''Lexingt ...

Story'' as Henrietta. She portrayed Memaw, the grandmother of Halle Downing, in the

Oprah Winfrey Network Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) is an American multinational basic cable channel jointly owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Harpo Studios that launched on January 1, 2011, replacing the Discovery Health Channel. The network is led by talk show h ...

movie ''First Christmas''.

Teaching career

Stewart began teaching in 1971, educating high school students. At her alma mater,

, she taught speech to her students. By 1983, Stewart was assistant professor for the dramatics and speech departments at Jackson. Starting in 1990, she was a professor at the College of Visual and Performing Arts for

, also chairing the theater department. Stewart eventually became dean before retiring in 2019 after 48 years in education. One of her students was Stephen Boss. In 2020, Stewart was appointed by Alabama state governor

Kay Ivey Kay Ellen Ivey (born October 15, 1944) is an American politician serving as the 54th and incumbent governor of Alabama since 2017. Originally a conservative Southern Democrat, Ivey became a member of the Republican Party in 2002. She was the 38t ...

to represent the fifth district of the Alabama State Board of Education.

Personal life

She is married to Allen Stewart, with whom she has three children. One of her grandchildren is Jennifer Dallas.

Filmography

Television

Guest Starring Roles *''

'' "Rise to the Occasion" (1999) as Principal Rivers *''

'' "The Trial of LaRue" (1997) as Judge Loretta Paxton *''

Memphis Beat ''Memphis Beat'' is an American crime comedy-drama television series created by Joshua Harto and Liz W. Garcia that aired on TNT from June 22, 2010 to August 16, 2011, with a total of 20 episodes spanning two seasons. It was produced by Smokeho ...

'' "I Want to be Free" as Miss Angelina *'' Matlock'' "The Juror" (1993) as Henrietta Dorsey *'' American Horror Story: Coven'' (2013) as Cora Starring Roles *'' In the Heat of the Night'' (1988) as Aunt Etta

Film

*''

Same Kind of Different as Me ''Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together'', published in June 2006, is a book co-written by Ron Hall and Denver Moore, with Lynn Vincent, telling about Hall ...

'' (2017) as Big Mama *'' Girls Trip'' (2017) as Aunt Marian *''

The Hollars ''The Hollars'' is a 2016 American comedy-drama film directed by John Krasinski and written by James C. Strouse. The film stars an ensemble cast led by Krasinski, starring Sharlto Copley, Charlie Day, Richard Jenkins, Anna Kendrick and Margo Ma ...

'' (2015) as Latisha *''

'' (2009) as Alice *'' A Time to Kill'' (1996) as Gwen Hailey *''

'' (1988) as Mrs. Walker *''

'' (1979) as Lillie (credited as Tommie Stewart) *''

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry ''Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry'' is a 1977 novel by Mildred D. Taylor. Part of her Logan family series, it is a sequel to her 1975 novella '' Song of the Trees''. It won the 1977 Newbery Medal. The novel is the first book in the Logan family sa ...

'' (1978) as Mrs. Avery (credited as Tommie Stewart) *''

'' (1976) – Alma (credited as Tommie Stewart)

References

__NOTOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Tonea 1947 births American film actresses American television actresses Florida State University alumni Actresses from Mississippi Jackson State University faculty Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Alabama State University faculty American women academics