Actress. She is best remembered for her portrayal of the no-nonsense Judge Brown in "She-Devil" (1989). Born into a working-class family, one of eighteen children of a vegetable farmer and a housewife, after attaining her degree in theatrical arts from the New Lafayette Theatre in Harlem, New York, she began her career as a leading lady on the stage appearing in such productions as "The Amen Corner," "Cabin in the Sky," "Porgy and Bess," "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," "A Raisin in the Sun," "Horowitz and Mrs. Washington," "Inacent Black," "The American Clock," "My Sister, My Sister," and "Horowitz and Mrs. Washington." After decades of stage work, she was introduced to director Jack Sameth while attending a luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Impressed by her professionalism, mature appearance, and humble charm, he made good use of her further potential and arranged for her to begin a career in the film industry beginning with her appearing under his supervision in a leading role in "Wedding Band" (1974). From there, she would go on to flourish as a recognizable character actress appearing in over 15 features; often typecast as wives, mothers, old maids, grandmothers, eccentrics, kindly neighbors, secretaries, housekeepers, educators, landladies, nurses, authority figures, aristocrats, dowagers, foreigners, eccentrics, curmudgeons, clergywomen, and matriarchs. She appeared in such feature films as "Night of the Juggler" (1980), "See China and Die" (1981), "Tales of the Unexpected South" (1984), "A Gathering of Old Men" (1987), "Caroline Skeletons" (1991), and "Abobo" (1992). On television, she appeared in various guest spots on such syndicated sitcoms as "Getting to Know Me," "Good Times," "Another World," "Tales from the Darkside," "The Cosby Show," "American Playhouse," "I'll Fly Away," and "Law & Order." During her career, she was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, was supportive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, was the sister of character actresses Esther Rolle and Estelle Evans, was the 1977 recipient of the AUDELCO award for Best Supporting Actress, presided as a chairwoman for her local charters of the American Red Cross and Feeding America, was a regular parishioner of the African Methodist Episcopal church, was a politically active Democrat and civil rights activist, was a 1993 Emmy Award nominee for Outstanding Guest Appearance in a Drama Series, sat on the board of directors for the New Federal Theatre, had been a commercial model for the Forbes Agency, had been a theatrical instructor for the Neighborhood Playhouse, had been an honorary member of the Negro Ensemble Company, and she was the mother of actress and poet Kelcina Carter Allen. Upon her 1997 retirement, she spent the final years of her life dividing time between her homes in New York and Florida, and was involved in charitable and religious causes, until her death.