link (http://www.whatwouldthembido.com/2009/12/in-memorium-alaina-reed-hall.html)

Information is still developing, but Alaina Reed Hall passed away on December 17 at the age of sixty-three. The cause of her death has not yet been officially reported but the actress, best known for her roles as Rose Holloway on 227 and Olivia on Sesame Street, has been very public about her ongoing battle with breast cancer. She participated in the documentary “Breast Cancer Examined: An African-American Perspective,” to commemorate 2009 National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and share her courageous approach to fighting the disease.



Born Bernice Ruth Reed in Ohio, Alaina Reed began her career in early 70s theater, appearing in Broadway and Off-Broadway productions such as Chicago, Hair, and Eubie. In 1976 she landed the role of Sesame Street’s Olivia. From then until 1988 Reed presented children with one of the earliest depictions of positive black womanhood, demonstrated the warmth of adult sibling relationships with her brother Gordon, and straight up taught us letters and how to count. In 1985 Reed joined the original cast of 227 as Rose Lee, one of my favorite black sitcom characters ever. Rose was sassy but sensitive, responsible but mischievous, and always good for showcasing Reed’s excellent singing voice through some wacky plot device like a church choir solo or random sing-off that would somehow keep everyone in the building from being evicted.

Kevin Peter Hall (the 7′2″ actor who portrayed Harry in Harry and The Hendersons and Predator in the movies of the same name) guest starred as Rose’s love interest on 227 and in 1988 the two began a real-life relationship, marrying both on the show and in real life. Sadly, he passed away in 1991 from complications of AIDS contracted through a blood transfusion. 227 was canceled that same year but the now Alaina Reed Hall continued to act until her death, steadily appearing on sitcoms such as A Different World, Friends, Ally McBeal, and making the best of a recurring role on the short-lived series Cleghorne. She also returned to her theater roots with a one-woman show, “Alaina at the Bijou.”

Awwwww...I loved her from both Sesame Street and 227. :rip:

RIP

:rip:

Awwwww...I loved her from both Sesame Street and 227. :rip:me too:(

She will be missed

wow-- 2009 is just one sad year

This is my response from Facebook:

"When I was a kid, Olivia was my favorite of the people in Sesame Street. My aunt actually knew her from school. And one day, after she was off Sesame Street, she visited my aunt. I found out about this and asked my aunt why she didn't tell me. She said she figured I wouldn't care. So I didn't get to meet her.

I was always hoping she'd come back to visit my aunt again so I could meet her and tell her how much I loved her on Sesame Street. Now I'll never get that chance.

Plus I loved her on 227 and she did a guest spot on my favorite show, NewsRadio.

First Mr. Hooper, then David, and now Olivia. This is very sad."

OMGoodness............ :eek2: First Brittany Murphy now Alaina Hall. :( :( :(

How sad. I loved her on Sesame Street. Was she still on the show? I also remember watching 227 as a kid. Funny show. I haven't seen it in years.

How very sad. I always liked her. R.I.P. Alaina. :(

Again they came in threes:

:rip: Jennifer Jones
:rip: Alaina Reed-Hall
:rip: Brittany Murphy

Miss Reed Family is in my Prayers at this time of need.

This day is just too sad for me, first Brittany Murphy and now Alaina Reed Hall.

How sad. I loved her on Sesame Street. Was she still on the show? I also remember watching 227 as a kid. Funny show. I haven't seen it in years.
She left Sesame Street around the time that 227 began. As far as I know, she never went back to SS.

I'll always remember her in the movie "Follow That Bird", where she sang the song One Little Star. She was singing it with Big Bird, even though Big Bird was far away. It was sad.

I remember that I was in Philadelphia Thursday working on a show and while I was worrying about getting my per diem money, this woman is being put to rest. Wow. Amazing!

Oh, no... so very sad to hear of her passing... :(

I'll always remember her in the movie "Follow That Bird", where she sang the song One Little Star. She was singing it with Big Bird, even though Big Bird was far away. It was sad.
That was the very first movie I ever saw in a theater, back in 1985. I was about 6 years old and went with my grandma. That was indeed a touching scene - and I think even as an adult I cried when Big Bird was blue and crying. They just don't make them like that anymore...and that's why I am doing my best to instill these shows and values (and the people like Alaina Reed-Hall, Jim Henson, etc.) into my young nephews!

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-alaina-reed-hall22-2009dec22,0,5733815.story

By Dennis McLellan
December 22, 2009

Alaina Reed Hall, a singer and actress who played Olivia Robinson on "Sesame Street" for a dozen years beginning in the mid-1970s and later played Rose Holloway on the situation comedy "227," has died. She was 63.

Reed Hall, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, died Thursday at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, said her husband, Tamim Amini.

One of the original cast members of the 1974 off-Broadway production of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the Road," Reed Hall joined "Sesame Street" in 1976 and played Olivia -- a professional photographer and sister to the character Gordon -- until 1988.

In a 2004 interview with the Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun, Reed Hall described "Sesame Street" as "the best job I ever had."

When she heard fans calling out to her as she rode in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, she said, "It dawned on me. I have a big responsibility. I was in their house every day."

On "227," the 1985-90 NBC sitcom, she played the apartment landlady and best friend to star Marla Gibbs' Mary Jenkins character.

In the show's final season, Reed Hall's character falls in love with Warren Merriwether, played by Kevin Peter Hall, and the two characters wed. In real life, the two actors were already married.

"It was a wonderful segment because we had [guest star] Luther Vandross, who was also a friend of Alaina's, sing; and we had the same minister who performed the actual wedding," Gibbs told The Times on Monday.

Gibbs, who had attended the couple's real wedding, first met Reed Hall when she auditioned for the TV series.

"She was very good in the role, and some episodes were written around her," said Gibbs, adding that Reed Hall "was a wonderful singer. As a matter of fact, she and I did a nightclub act together at my club, Marla's Memory Lane," while doing the series.

"She worked on Broadway, she did stuff in New York; she was a very well-known singer in New York for a while before she did the show," Gibbs said. "After we finished the show, she did quite a few commercials, so I was calling her the 'Commercial Queen.'

"She was just a wonderful friend. She will be sorely missed; she fought the good fight."

Born Bernice Reed in Springfield, Ohio, on Nov. 10, 1946, she appeared in stage productions of "Hair," "Chicago" and "Eubie."

She also made guest appearances on TV series such as including "ER," "NYPD Blue," "Friends" and "Ally McBeal," and appeared in a number of films, including "Death Becomes Her," "Cruel Intentions" and "I'm Through With White Girls (The Inevitable Undoing of Jay Brooks)."

Reed Hall's first marriage ended in divorce. Her marriage to the 7-foot-2 Hall, who played the Bigfoot character Harry in the film and television series "Harry and the Hendersons," ended with his death in 1991. Reed Hall married Amini in 2008.

A list of surviving family members was not provided.

No funeral service will be held. A celebration of Reed Hall's life is being planned for early next year.

:rip:

I didn't even know Alaina was battling breast cancer. That reminds me, I should watch the 227 extras on season 1 again. Alaina's death marks 3 cast members from 227's main cast that are no longer with us: Helen Martin and Paul Winfield. Also no longer with us, recurring cast members Whitman Mayo and Beah Richards (Mary's parents), Eve Smith (Cora), George Kirby (Lester's dad), Ron Richardson (Reverend Davis), Kevin Peter Hall (Warren Merriwether).

:rip:

I didn't even know Alaina was battling breast cancer. That reminds me, I should watch the 227 extras on season 1 again. Alaina's death marks 3 cast members from 227's main cast that are no longer with us: Helen Martin and Paul Winfield. Also no longer with us, recurring cast members Whitman Mayo and Beah Richards (Mary's parents), Eve Smith (Cora), George Kirby (Lester's dad), Ron Richardson (Reverend Davis), Kevin Peter Hall (Warren Merriwether).
It is indeed sad. Alaina seemed like such a sweet lady. May she :rip:.

Celebrity Underrated - Whatever Happened To? Episode 3

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Celebrity Underrated chronicles the lives and deaths of entertainers (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/45647241/alaina-reed-hall), sports figures, world leaders, and others both famous and infamous. The channel highlights their background and upbringing, their rise to fame, their trials and tribulations, and the often mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the deceased.