Who was Mary Alice?

Mary Alice is the Tony and Emmy-winning actor who starred in the original broadway presentation of Fences and was the Oracle in The Matrix Revolutions. She died at 85. 

The NYPD confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Alice died in her NYC home, Wednesday. 

Born in Indialoa, Mississippi, Mary Alice Smith showed a penchant for acting at a young age. She started in her hometown but her family moved to Chicago, where Alice graduated from what’s now the Chicago State University, and was an elementary school teacher for a while. 

However, since then, the actor made a name for herself, appearing alongside notable stars like Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. She was also part of Brian de Palma’s The Bonfire of the Vanities.

In 1992 and 1993, Alice received back-to-back Emmy nominations and won in the second year for her role in I’ll Fly Away the NBC legal drama. 

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She made a mark earlier with Sparkle, where Alice played a single mother raising three children. Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television had an entry on her performance from Bob McCann, who said, “Only in her mid-30s when she played the role, Alice beautifully crystallized — and saluted — all the mothers who went the extra mile for their children”. 

Gloria Foster was the Oracle initially in the first two Matrix movies, but after her death, Alice took over. 

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She’s won a Tony as well with the New York Times reviewing her performance, saying “Ms Alice’s performance emphasizes strength over self-pity, open anger over festering bitterness”. The review added, “The actress finds the spiritual quotient in the acceptance that accompanies Rose’s love for a scarred, profoundly complicated man.” 

Alice was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2000. The actor’s final onscreen credit was in the 2005 episode of the rebooted Kojak.