BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY
Olivia Cole
| Olivia Cole | |
|---|---|
Cole in 1977.
| |
| Born | November 26, 1942 Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Occupation | actress |
| Years active | 1952-2011 |
| Spouse(s) | Richard Venture (1969-1984) (divorced) |
Olivia Cole (born November 26, 1942) is an American actress.
Life and career
Cole was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the daughter of Arvelia (née Cage) and William Cole.[1] She made her screen debut in the daytime soap opera The Guiding Light in 1969 and later appeared in over 30 shows and films.[2]
Cole won an Emmy Award for her performance in the 1977 miniseries Roots.[3] She was also well known for her role as Maggie Rogers in the 1979 miniseries Backstairs at the White House, for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.[3]
Cole starred in the CBS sitcoms Szysznyk from 1977 to 1978 and Report to Murphy in 1982.[2] She also was cast in the short-lived ABC drama series Brewster Place with Oprah Winfrey in 1990, and previously appeared in another miniseries North and South, Book I (1985). She also guest-starred on Police Woman, Family, L.A. Law and Murder, She Wrote.[2]
Cole's Broadway credits include The School for Scandal, You Can't Take It with You, The Merchant of Venice, and The National Health.[4] Cole is an honorary member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. In film, she appeared in Heroes (1977), Coming Home(1978), Some Kind of Hero (1982), Go Tell It on the Mountain (1984), Big Shots (1987), more recently in First Sunday (2008), as well as in the television movies Something About Amelia (1984) and The Women of Brewster Place (1989).