TJ
03-19-2002, 07:34 PM
Actress LeNoire Dies at 90
Tue Mar 19, 8:50 AM ET
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Actress-producer Rosetta Lenoire, who was directed by Orson Welles in a landmark, all-black version of "Macbeth" in the 1930s and who played Grandma Winslow on the television comedy "Family Matters," died on Sunday in Teaneck, N.J., after a long illness. She was 90.
Known to TV audiences for her long-running role as Grandma Winslow, LeNoire founded the Amas Repertory Theatre in New York in 1968. The nonprofit organization, dedicated to developing musicals and new talent, produced such popular shows as "Bojangles" and Tony nominee "Bubbling Brown Sugar."
She also received the National Medal of Arts in 1999.
Born in New York City, LeNoire took music lessons from legendary jazzman Eubie Blake. By age 15, she was a chorus girl working with her godfather, dancing great Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.
She made her Broadway debut in "The Hot Mikado" in 1939, going on to appear in such shows as "A Streetcar Named Desire," "The Sunshine Boys" and "Lost In The Stars."
LeNoire also co-starred in the film version of "Anna Lucasta" with Sammy Davis Jr. and Eartha Kitt and appeared in such TV series as "Search for Tomorrow," "The Guiding Light" and "Gimme a Break."
She played Grandma Winslow on "Family Matters' from 1989 to 1997.
Tue Mar 19, 8:50 AM ET
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Actress-producer Rosetta Lenoire, who was directed by Orson Welles in a landmark, all-black version of "Macbeth" in the 1930s and who played Grandma Winslow on the television comedy "Family Matters," died on Sunday in Teaneck, N.J., after a long illness. She was 90.
Known to TV audiences for her long-running role as Grandma Winslow, LeNoire founded the Amas Repertory Theatre in New York in 1968. The nonprofit organization, dedicated to developing musicals and new talent, produced such popular shows as "Bojangles" and Tony nominee "Bubbling Brown Sugar."
She also received the National Medal of Arts in 1999.
Born in New York City, LeNoire took music lessons from legendary jazzman Eubie Blake. By age 15, she was a chorus girl working with her godfather, dancing great Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.
She made her Broadway debut in "The Hot Mikado" in 1939, going on to appear in such shows as "A Streetcar Named Desire," "The Sunshine Boys" and "Lost In The Stars."
LeNoire also co-starred in the film version of "Anna Lucasta" with Sammy Davis Jr. and Eartha Kitt and appeared in such TV series as "Search for Tomorrow," "The Guiding Light" and "Gimme a Break."
She played Grandma Winslow on "Family Matters' from 1989 to 1997.