Eliza Virginia Capers (September 22, 1925 â€" May 6, 2004) was an American actress She won the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical in 1974 for her performance as Lena Younger in Raisin, a musical version of Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun.
Personal life
Born in Sumter, South Carolina, Capers attended Howard University and studied voice at the Juilliard School in New York City.
Career
She made her Broadway debut in the musical Jamaica in 1957 as the understudy for Adelaide Hall in the role of Grandma Obeah, taking over the role when Hall left the show. Capers went on to appear in Saratoga and Raisin.
Capers was a familiar face to television audiences. In addition to a recurring role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, she appeared in many television programs, including Have Gun Will Travel, Marcus Welby, M.D., My Three Sons, Mannix, The Waltons, Mork & Mindy, Highway to Heaven, St. Elsewhere, Murder, She Wrote, Evening Shade, The Golden Girls, Married... with Children, The Practice and ER.
Capers appeared in such films as The Great White Hope (1970), Lady Sings the Blues (1972), The Toy (1982), Teachers (1984), Norwood (1970), The North Avenue Irregulars (1979), Howard the Duck (1986), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Beethoven's 2nd (1993) and What's Love Got to Do with It (1993).
Capers founded the Lafayette Players, a Los Angeles repertory theatre company for African-American performers. She was the recipient of the National Black Theatre Festival Living Legend Award, the Paul Robeson Pioneer Award, and the NAACP Image Award for theatre excellence.
Capers provided the narration for the adventure game Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers.
Death
Capers died on May 6, 2004, of complications from pneumonia in Los Angeles, California, aged 78.
References
External links
- Virginia Capers at the Internet Broadway Database
- Virginia Capers at the Internet Movie Database