Olivia Carlena Cole (November 26, 1942 – January 19, 2018) was an American actress, best known for her

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-winning role in the 1977 miniseries ''

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

''.

Early life and education

Cole was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mo ...

, the daughter of Arvelia Cole (née Cage), a tennis player, instructor, entrepreneur and William Calvin Cole, a worker for

Grumman The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 ...

. After graduating from Manhattan's

Hunter College High School Hunter College High School is a secondary school located in the Carnegie Hill neighborhood on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It is administered by Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY). Hunter is publicly funded, and there ...

in 1960, she studied drama at

Bard College Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark. Founded in 1860, ...

in New York and earned a scholarship to attend the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

in London, where she graduated with honors in 1964. After returning to the United States, she earned a master's degree in theater arts with minor in Scandinavian studies in 1967 from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

Career

Cole made her screen debut in the daytime soap opera ''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

'' in 1969 and later appeared in over 30 shows and films. Cole won an

for her performance as Matilda, Chicken George's wife, in the 1977 miniseries ''

''. Cole became the first African American actress to win an Emmy award in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for her performance in ''Roots''. She also was known for her role as Maggie Rogers in the 1979 miniseries '' Backstairs at the White House'', for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. Cole starred in the CBS sitcoms ''

Szysznyk ''Szysznyk'' (pronounced SIZ-nik) is an American sitcom produced by Paramount Television. Originally broadcast on CBS as a summer replacement series, five episodes were aired during August 1977, followed by ten more during the 1977-78 televisio ...

'' from 1977 to 1978 and '' Report to Murphy'' in 1982. She also was cast in the ABC drama miniseries'' The Women Of Brewster Place'' with

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', b ...

in 1990 and previously appeared in another miniseries '' North and South, Book I'' (1985). She also guest-starred on '' Police Woman'', ''

Family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

'', '' L.A. Law'', "Christy" and ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The seri ...

''. Cole's Broadway credits include ''

The School for Scandal ''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777. Plot Act I Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling S ...

'', '' You Can't Take It with You'', ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as ...

'', and '' The National Health''. She was an honorary member of the

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen s ...

sorority. In film, she appeared in '' Heroes'' (1977), '' Coming Home'' (1978), ''

Some Kind of Hero ''Some Kind of Hero'' is a 1982 American comedy-drama film starring Richard Pryor as a returning Vietnam War veteran having trouble adjusting to civilian life. Soon he is involved in an organized crime heist. It co-stars Margot Kidder and was d ...

'' (1982), ''Go Tell It on the Mountain'' (1984), '' Big Shots'' (1987), '' First Sunday'' (2008) as well as in the television movies '' Something About Amelia'' (1984) and '' The Women of Brewster Place'' (1989).

Personal life and death

In June 1971, she married actor Richard Venture, one of the few to enter an interracial marriage in Hollywood at that time. They later divorced in 1984. She retired in 1995, but later returned to acting. Cole died 31 days after ex-husband, actor Richard Venture; at her home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico on January 19, 2018, age 75 following a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

Filmography

Awards and nominations

* 1977 Primetime Emmy award, Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Series for ''

'' - won * 1979 Primetime Emmy award, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Special for '' Backstairs at the White House'' - nominated * 2007 TV Land award, Anniversary award (shared with

LeVar Burton Levar Burton Jr. (born February 16, 1957) is an American actor, director, and television host, best known for playing Geordi La Forge in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994). He also played Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries ''R ...

, Louis Gossett, Jr., Leslie Uggams, John Amost,

Ben Vereen Benjamin Augustus Vereen (born October 10, 1946) is an American actor, dancer and singer. Vereen gained prominence for his performances in the original Broadway productions of the musicals '' Jesus Christ Superstar'', for which he received a T ...

Todd Bridges Todd Anthony Bridges (born May 27, 1965) is an American actor. He portrayed Willis Jackson on the sitcom ''Diff'rent Strokes'' and had a recurring role as Monk on the sitcom ''Everybody Hates Chris.'' Bridges worked as a commentator on the telev ...

Cicely Tyson Cicely Louise Tyson (December 19, 1924January 28, 2021) was an American actress. In a career which spanned more than seven decades in film, television and theatre, she became known for her portrayal of strong African-American women. Tyson recei ...

, Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs,

Georg Stanford Brown Georg Stanford Brown (born June 24, 1943) is an American actor and director, perhaps best known as one of the stars of the ABC police television series '' The Rookies'' from 1972 to 1976. On the show, Brown played the character of Officer Terry ...

) for ''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Olivia 1942 births 2018 deaths African-American actresses American stage actresses American film actresses American television actresses Actresses from Memphis, Tennessee Bard College alumni 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Alumni of RADA Hunter College High School alumni 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people