Irma P. Hall, the actress, author, poet, and educator best known for her roles in Soul Food, A Family Thing, and The Ladykillers, died Tuesday, November 10, at age 91. Her family announced her passing in a statement, with actor Darrin Henson sharing the news on social media.
“Irma P Hall was a beloved actress, author, poet, educator, and public speaker whose contributions touched countless lives throughout her remarkable career,” the family said. “Her legacy of talent, dedication, and compassion will continue to inspire generations to come.” The family requested privacy during this time and said additional details about memorial services would be announced later.
Born Irma Dolores Player Hall on June 3, 1935, in Beaumont, Texas, Hall moved with her family to Chicago’s South Side in 1942 so she could have better educational opportunities. She graduated from Texas College in 1956 and went on to teach French, Spanish, and other languages, first at Booker T. Washington High School in Houston, then at James Madison High School in Dallas, continuing to teach until she transitioned into acting full-time in 1984.
Her acting career began in 1972, when actor-director Raymond St. Jacques, who’d initially brought her on as an interim publicist for his independent film Book of Numbers, saw her perform at a poetry reading and offered her a role on the spot, as Georgia Brown. St. Jacques called her a natural and encouraged her to pursue acting professionally. She went on to co-found the Dallas Minority Regional Theater alongside Reggie Montgomery.
Hall worked steadily through the 1980s, with roles in Backdraft and Mo’ Money, but her breakout came with 1996’s A Family Thing, where critics widely praised her performance as Aunt T, earning her the Chicago Film Critics Association Award and the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress. The role established her as a major supporting actress heading into the late 1990s and 2000s. She went on to play root doctor Minerva in Clint Eastwood’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and in 1997 landed the role audiences would come to know her best for: Big Mama Joseph in Soul Food, the matriarch whose Sunday dinners anchored the Joseph family. The role earned her the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture in 1998, and she later reprised the character in fantasy sequences on the television spinoff, Soul Food: The Series, earning a second NAACP Image Award nomination in 2001.
In 2004, Hall starred as Marva Munson in the Coen brothers’ remake of The Ladykillers, a performance widely praised by critics, earning her a special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and another NAACP Image Award nomination. Her later credits included guest appearances on Law & Order: SVU, The Game, and Chicago Fire, roles in Meet the Browns and Collateral, and a recurring role as Meemaw in Hap and Leonard through 2017.
Hall lived in Dallas with her family, survived by two children and four grandchildren.
“In her, we recognized the women who raised us, prayed over us and always made room for one more plate,” one tribute read following her passing. “We honor her artistry, her humanity and the familiar love she made us feel.”