RememberingThursday, November 12
Dallas actress Irma P. Hall, Big Mama Jo in 'Soul Food,' dies at 91
The DALtoday team
Irma P. Hall, the Dallas actress who played “Big Mama Jo” in 1997's Soul Food, died Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 91, surrounded by family. Before acting, she taught English and foreign languages in Dallas ISD, until a poetry reading in Dallas caught director Raymond St. Jacques' eye.
More than 20 yearsIrma P. Hall spent teaching in Dallas ISD before acting
She taught English and foreign languages.
Source: D Magazine
Her Soul Food role won an NAACP Image Award, and she took the Jury Prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival for The Ladykillers. She's in the Texas Film Hall of Fame. Locally, she co-founded the Dallas Minority Repertory Theatre and helped establish the African American Repertory Theatre in DeSoto.
Irma P. Hall went from a Beaumont birth to Cannes
- June 1935Irma Dolores Player is born in Beaumont.
- 1973She makes her film debut in Book of Numbers.
- 1997She plays Big Mama Jo in Soul Food.
- 2004She wins the Cannes Jury Prize for The Ladykillers.
- Nov. 10She dies at 91, surrounded by family.
- Nov. 19The Dallas History Makers Award luncheon will be held.
Sources: D Magazine, KERA News Breakthroughs, Dallas News, Click2Houston
“She started as a teacher in the classroom but ended up being a teacher to the world.”
- Survivors: a son, a daughter and four grandchildren
- Services: her family says details will be announced later
- The Irmas: Black Theatre Awards for local actors carry her name
Sources: D Magazine, KERA News Breakthroughs, Dallas News, Click2Houston