Early life

Margaret Avery was born in Mangum, Oklahoma and raised in San Diego, California, where she attended Point Loma High School. She then attended San Francisco State University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in education. While working as a substitute teacher in Los Angeles, Avery began making singing appearances and acting on the stage.

Career

Among the plays she appeared in were Revolution, and The Sistuhs. For her performance in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? (1973) she received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for "Performance In A Major Role."

In the television movie Something Evil (1972), a horror story with Sandy Dennis and Darren McGavin, she was directed by Steven Spielberg. That same year, she made her theatrical motion picture debut as Lark in the MGM crime/drama Cool Breeze (1972) with Thalmus Rasulala and Judy Pace. In this blaxploitation remake of The Asphalt Jungle, Avery played the Marilyn Monroe part. The following year she played a prostitute in Magnum Force (1973), the second in the series of Dirty Harry films starring Clint Eastwood, in which her character was murdered by her pimp (played by Albert Popwell). This act of killing by pouring drain cleaner down the victim's throat was said to have inspired the notorious Hi-Fi Murders case in 1974.

In Universal's Which Way Is Up? (1977), directed by Michael Schultz, Avery turned in a comedic performance as Annie Mae, the wife of Richard Pryor. That same year, she played Belle Joplin, wife of the ragtime composer Scott Joplin, opposite Billy Dee Williams in the title role.

Avery scored a major success with her role as the sultry and spirited blues singer, Shug Avery, in Spielberg's The Color Purple (1985) opposite Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover. Her performance in this screen adaptation of Alice Walker's prize-winning novel of the same title earned Avery an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

In 1992 Avery starred in The Jacksons: An American Dream as Martha Scruse, mother of Katherine Jackson, who was played by Angela Bassett. The two would later star together in Meet the Browns.

She has also made numerous TV series guest appearances, including The New Dick Van Dyke Show; Kojak; Sanford and Son; Kolchak: The Night Stalker; A.E.S. Hudson Street; Murder, She Wrote; Miami Vice; Spenser: For Hire; The Cosby Show; Walker, Texas Ranger; and JAG.

In 2008, Avery played Mama Jenkins in Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, opposite Martin Lawrence and James Earl Jones, and Sarah Brown in Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns, which also stars Angela Bassett.

Margaret Avery lives in Los Angeles, and remains active in the show business industry. While continuing to act, she also works with at-risk teenagers and battered women of Greater Los Angeles.

Personal life

She married Robert Gordon Hunt in January 1974. They were divorced in 1980 and have one daughter.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	Cool Breeze	Lark
1972	Terror House	Edwina
1973	Magnum Force	Prostitute
1973	An Eye for an Eye	Nurse
1973	Hell Up in Harlem	Sister Jennifer
1977	Which Way Is Up?	Annie Mae
1977	Scott Joplin	Belle Joplin
1979	Fish That Saved Pittsburgh, TheThe Fish That Saved Pittsburgh	Toby Millman
1985	Color Purple, TheThe Color Purple	Shug Avery	Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1989	Riverbend	Bell Coleman
1990	Return of Superfly, TheThe Return of Superfly	Francine
1993	Lightning in a Bottle	Dr. Sierheed
1993	Night Trap	Miss Sadie
1994	Cyborg 3: The Recycler	Doc Edford
1995	Set-Up, TheThe Set-Up	Olivia Dubois
1995	White Man's Burden	Megan Thomas
1998	Love Kills	Moon
2002	Waitin' to Live	Pearline Loggins
2002	Second to Die	Insurance agent
2007	Lord Help Us	Dorinda Thomas	Direct-to-video
2008	Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins	Mama Jenkins
2008	Meet the Browns	Sarah Brown
2009	Extrospection	Anna

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	Something Evil	Irene
1976	Louis Armstrong - Chicago Style	Alma Rae
1980	Sky Is Gray, TheThe Sky Is Gray	Rosemary
1980	Lathe of Heaven, TheThe Lathe of Heaven	Heather LeLache
1982	The Powers of Matthew Star	April	Episode "Accused"
1983	For Us, the Living	Dottie
1987	Rags to Riches	Celia Richards (Cee Cee Smith)
1989	Single Women Married Men	Grace Williams
1990	Riverbend	Bell Coleman
1990	Heat Wave	Roxie Turpin
1992	Jacksons: An American Dream, TheThe Jacksons: An American Dream	Martha Scruse
1992	The Cosby Show	Leah
1998	Wie stark muss eine Liebe sein	Mary McMillian	German TV
2012	Single Ladies	Josephine	Episode: "Ex Factor"
2013-present	Being Mary Jane	Helen Patterson	Recurring Role

[ Source: Wikipedia ]