BEAH: A BLACK WOMAN SPEAKS (TV)

Summary

This documentary film celebrates the life and career of actress, poet and activist Beah Richards. Director Lisa Gay Hamilton explains that she bonded with Richards after portraying her daughter-in-law in the movie "Beloved" (1998), noting that Richards had "ancient wisdom" to share. Richards discusses her parents and their heritage, stating that her family used the term "black" rather than "colored" or "Negro," and reflects on her father, a charismatic preacher, and her mother, who had reservations about bringing children into a world steeped in racism. In the present, Richards is honored at a Pan-African film festival and gives a witty acceptance speech, though her struggles with emphysema, caused by a lifelong smoking habit, begin to worsen. Richards dropped out of New Orleans' Dillard College after a short time and took a series of jobs, eventually heading to California on her own. Feeling that she was "a realist in a racist society," she began working at the Globe Theater and appeared in several self-penned stage works, though artistic director Craig Noel acknowledges that black women were rarely given interesting leading roles at the time. Hamilton questions Richards about her experiences with Shakespeare, and Richards compares the Bard's use of language to speeches delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Richards is thrilled when she lands a guest spot on Hamilton's legal series "The Practice" in 2000, and actor Bill Cobbs, who portrays her husband, comments on the ease of working with her. In the past, Richards bonded with activist Frances Williams and her various important friends, including singer Paul Robeson, to whom a teenage Richards dedicated a poem. She also found a lifelong mentor in activist Louise Thompson Patterson, who worked to free Willie McGee, a black man accused of raping a white woman, and Richards recalls her amazement that McGee's estranged wife Rosalee came to her husband's defense as well. Inspired by Rosalee, Richards wrote the poem "A Black Woman Speaks…" and won a poetry contest in Chicago, then using the $300 prize money to travel to New York. Once in Harlem, Richards continued her work with Patterson and her husband William, highly controversial for their work against Jim Crow laws and roles in the Communist Party. Richards helped to organize the Sojourners for Truth and Justice, a group of black women working for political and social equality, and she recalls their 1951 march on Washington with great pride. Richards was placed under FBI surveillance for her subversive actions, but was undeterred in her work.

Richards recalls her "stranger than fiction" theater work in California, explaining that she could afford neither an agent nor headshots, and finally landed her first stage role at age thirty-six – as the grandmother in "Take A Giant Step." She went on to play the mother role in the 1959 film version, and eventually made her Broadway debut as Viney, the maid in "The Miracle Worker," a role she recreated in the 1962 film adaptation. Ossie Davis praises her "majesty and authority" as a performer, and Richards displayed a different kind of bravery when she traveled to Birmingham, Alabama to report on the extreme racial tensions in the city. She found a "kindred spirit" in actor/director Frank Silvera, stating that he gave her the true definition of "being" as he attempted to create a new image of the black experience through theater. Richards received strong reviews and a Tony nomination for her work in James Baldwin's "The Amen Corner" alongside Silvera, though Hollywood continued to offer her only maid and old-woman roles, much to Silvera's disgust. When he died prematurely at age 56, Richards tried to carry on his legacy through her work and scored an Oscar nomination for her work in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967), though her hometown of Vicksburg, Mississippi refused to screen the racially-themed film. Richards notes the bitter irony of her nomination, recalling that the Academy Award ceremony was delayed for Dr. King's funeral.

Richards' illness forces her to consider selling her home and moving in with her niece Sherry, though she continues putting on a brave and cheerful face to her friends. She is dismissive when Hamilton asks about her brief marriage to artist Hugh Harrell Jr., stating that he "lost sight of her," and Harrell Jr. acknowledges that he was intimidated by her great personal success. Richards recalls performing a scene inspired by their breakup, a fiery monologue in which she orders her ex-lover to "get out" as she strips naked, noting that the performance received very little critical attention. She also appeared in "In the Heat of the Night" (1967) and began teaching at the Inner City Cultural Center in Los Angeles, where she proved to be a challenging, creative instructor, requiring that her students "be" their roles rather than memorizing them. She states that she "got close" to true authenticity in her role as Baby Suggs in "Beloved," recalling her character's painful emotional journey.

Hamilton notes her own sense of sadness when Richards finally sells her home, though they are both thrilled when Richards wins her third Emmy Award for her role on "The Practice," and Hamilton accepts the award on her friend's behalf. The two share on final visit before Richards' death in September 2000, and she comments on the importance of putting one's own authentic voice into artistic works. Hamilton notes her gratitude for her friend's wisdom, and she helps to scatter her ashes at a Confederate graveyard, as per her wishes.

Details

• NETWORK: HBO
• DATE: February 25, 2004 7:30 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:30:14
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:86239
• GENRE: Documentary
• SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - News/Talk; Documentary; Biography
• SERIES RUN: N/A
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Sheila Nevins … Executive Producer
• Lisa Heller … Supervising Producer
• Jonathan Demme … Producer
• Neda Armian … Producer
• Joe Viola … Producer
• Lisa Gay Hamilton … Producer, Director, Writer
• Geri Allen … Music by
• Bernice Johnson Reagon … Music by
• Toshi Reagon … Music by
• Lisa Gay Hamilton … Narrator
• Beah Richards … Interviewee
• Craig Noel … Interviewee
• Ruby Dee … Interviewee
• Bill Cobbs … Interviewee
• Ossie Davis … Interviewee
• Hugh Harrell Jr. … Interviewee
• James Baldwin
• Sherry Green Fisher
• Martin Luther King Jr.
• Willie McGee
• Rosalee McGee
• Louise Thompson Patterson
• William L. Patterson
• Paul Robeson
• Frank Silvera
• Frances Williams