Maya Angelou

Acting

Maya Angelou

Born April 4, 1928 · St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Died May 28, 2014 · aged 86

Maya Angelou (April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees.

Known For

Madea's Family ReunionMadea's Family Reunion · 2006
Madea's Family Reunion
★ 6.32006
MovieDramaComedy
Southern matriarch Madea has a lot on her plate. Her nieces, Vanessa and Lisa, have relationship troubles - Vanessa moves into Madea's house with her 2 young children and Lisa is engaged to a controlling man that her mother set her up with. In addition, Madea has just been court-ordered to become the guardian of Nikki, a rebellious runaway teenager. Madea must keep the peace and her family together while simultaneously planning her clan's reunion.
Poetic JusticePoetic Justice · 1993
Poetic Justice
★ 6.71993
MovieDramaRomance
Still grieving after the murder of her boyfriend, hairdresser Justice writes poetry to deal with the pain of her loss. Unable to get to Oakland to attend a convention because of her broken-down car, Justice gets a lift with her friend, Iesha, and Iesha's postal worker boyfriend, Chicago. Along for the ride is Chicago's co-worker, Lucky, to whom Justice grows close after some initial problems. But is she ready to open her heart again?
How to Make an American QuiltHow to Make an American Quilt · 1995
How to Make an American Quilt
★ 6.41995
MovieDramaRomance
Soon-to-be-wed graduate student Finn Dodd develops cold feet when she suspects her fiancé is cheating on her. In order to clear her head, Finn visits her grandmother, Hy, and great aunt, Glady Joe Cleary, in Grasse, Calif. There, Finn learns that Hy and Glady Joe are members of a group of passionate quilters, and over the course of her visit she is regaled with tales of love and life by women who have collected rich experiences and much wisdom.
Sesame Street: Elmo Saves ChristmasSesame Street: Elmo Saves Christmas · 1996
Sesame Street: Elmo Saves Christmas
★ 6.01996
MovieFamilyMusic
Can there be such a thing as too much Christmas? Find out... when a magical Christmas wish is granted and Elmo gets to see what the world would be like if every day were Christmas! You'll enjoy lots of songs and holiday cheer with Elmo and his new friend Lightning, the reindeer, and discover for yourself why Christmas is best kept to one day a year!
Porgy and BessPorgy and Bess · 1959
Porgy and Bess
★ 6.31959
MovieMusicDrama
In the early 1900s, the fictional Catfish Row section of Charleston, South Carolina serves as home to a black fishing community. Crippled beggar Porgy, who travels about in a goat-drawn cart, loves the drug-addicted Bess, who lives with stevedore Crown, the local bully.
The Real Malcolm XThe Real Malcolm X · 1992
The Real Malcolm X
★ 8.01992
MovieDocumentary
CBS News looks at Malcolm X, focusing on his public life from 1959 to his assassination in 1965, suggesting that his death was a great loss to the nation. The film intercuts archival footage of Malcolm and interviews with family, friends, colleagues, scholars, and writers. CBS documents Malcolm's move from being Elijah Muhammad's deputy in the Nation of Islam to his embrace of Islam: his new links with the civil rights movement posed a real threat to the powers that be. CBS details his death after secret FBI acts to increase the rift between Muhammad and Malcolm. Maya Angelou, Dick Gregory, and Andrew Young offer trenchant comments. "He was our manhood," eulogized Ossie Davis.
Down in the DeltaDown in the Delta · 1998
Down in the Delta
★ 6.31998
MovieDrama
A single mother plagued by alcohol and drug addictions is sent with her children from Chicago to her ancestral home in the Mississippi Delta, to live with her uncle and aunt for the summer.
The Richard Pryor Special?The Richard Pryor Special? · 1977
The Richard Pryor Special?
★ 7.21977
MovieComedyTV Movie
Richard Pryor wanders around the NBC Studio, encountering various eccentrics. Meanwhile, the Reverend James L. White, the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada and others are taping their own segments.

Filmography

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The Enchanted Island Madagascar: The Living EdensThe Enchanted Island Madagascar: The Living Edens · 1998
The Enchanted Island Madagascar: The Living Edens
1998
MovieDocumentary
Travel to the mysterious island that time forgot -- the island of Madagascar. Nestled in the tranquil waters of the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa, Madagascar is an enchanting paradise where for eons nature has been left undisturbed. As you explore this pristine refuge, you'll discover a variety of dazzling plants and animals unique to Madagascar, because it evolved in isolation from the rest of the world. You'll soar over forested mountains, expansive plateaus and lush green rain-forests, encountering delightful leaping lemurs, colorful chameleons, exotic lizards, graceful ibis and breathtakingly beautiful butterflies -- did you know that there are over 3,200 species of butterflies on the island of Madagascar and, of those, over 2,900 can be seen only here? Witness close-up this primeval world's deepest secrets and closely guarded marvels and feel the power of this impressive island as never before.

Narrator

Integration Report 1Integration Report 1 · 1960
Integration Report 1
★ 7.61960
MovieDocumentary
Integration Report 1, Madeline Anderson's trailblazing debut, was the first known documentary by an African American female director. With tenacity, empathy and skill, Anderson assembles a vital record of desegregation efforts around the country in 1959 and 1960, featuring footage by documentary legends Albert Maysles and Richard Leacock and early Black cameraman Robert Puello, singing by Maya Angelou, and narration by playwright Loften Mitchell. Anderson fleetly moves from sit-ins in Montgomery, Alabama to a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington, D.C. to a protest of the unprosecuted death in police custody of an unarmed Black man in Brooklyn, capturing the incredible reach and scope of the civil rights movement, and working with this diverse of footage, as she would later say, “like an artist with a palette using different colors.”

Music