Tonea Stewart | |
---|---|
Born |
Greenwood, Mississippi, U.S. | February 3, 1947
Other names | Tommie Stewart |
Alma mater | |
Occupation | Actress/professor |
Years active | 1976–present |
Employer | Alabama State University |
Television | In the Heat of the Night |
Parent(s) | Hattie Juanita and Thomas Harris |
Tonea Stewart (born February 3, 1947), [1] also Tommie Stewart, is an American actress and university professor. She is the former dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts of Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama. [2]
She had a recurring role as Aunt Etta Kibby in the American television series In the Heat of the Night, [2] and is an NAACP Image Award nominee for acting in film A Time to Kill.
From the beginning of her acting career until 2019, Stewart concurrently worked as an actress and educator; she did not act full time until her retirement from teaching. [3] [4]
Stewart was born in Greenwood, Mississippi, [5] the daughter of Hattie (née Leonard) and Thomas Harris. [1] Her father worked as an electrician and plumber, while Stewart's mother was an educator. [5] They would divorce when Stewart was 4 years old. [5] Her sister, Beverly Branson, is a singer, and the two have performed together on stage. [6]
Her original intention was to become a doctor, and she studied biology at Jackson State University. However, after acting in a school production, Stewart changed her major to theater. [5] She earned a BS degree in speech and theater at Jackson, and then studied theater at the University of California at Santa Barbara. In 1989, Stewart received a PhD in theater arts from Florida State University. [2]
Stewart's first performance on screen was in TV movie Nightmare in Badham County (1976). [7] She appeared as Mrs. Walker in film Mississippi Burning (1988). [1] From 1991 to 1993, Stewart played Aunt Etta Kibby on In the Heat of the Night. [8] On the series, she had previously portrayed a different character, and returned under this new role as producers were impressed with her performance. [9] Stewart acted in the feature films Body Snatchers, [10] Livin' Large, [11] Mississippi Damned and Girls Trip. [4]
She has made guest appearances on television series Matlock, Walker, Texas Ranger, [12] ER and Touched by an Angel. [1] She played Gwen Hailey, the wife of Samuel L. Jackson's character, in A Time to Kill (1996). [13] Stewart received an NAACP Image Award nomination for her work in this film. [4] In Come Sunday (2018), she portrayed the mother of Pentecostal bishop Carlton Pearson. [5]
The majority of Stewart's work has been in television films. [1] She acted in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy 'Satchel' Paige (portraying the mother of Satchel Paige) [14] and The Rosa Parks Story, where she appeared as Johnnie Carr. [15] In 1994, Stewart appeared in the TV movies One Christmas as Evangeline [16] and A Passion for Justice: The Hazel Brannon Smith Story as Henrietta. [17] She portrayed Memaw, the grandmother of Halle Downing, in the Oprah Winfrey Network movie First Christmas. [18]
Stewart began teaching in 1971, [4] educating high school students. [1] At her alma mater, Jackson State University, she taught speech to her students. [19] By 1983, Stewart was assistant professor for the dramatics and speech departments at Jackson. [20]
Starting in 1990, she was a professor at the College of Visual and Performing Arts for Alabama State University, also chairing the theater department. [4] Stewart eventually became dean before retiring in 2019 after 48 years in education. [4] One of her students was Stephen Boss. [21]
In 2020, Stewart was appointed by Alabama state governor Kay Ivey to represent the fifth district of the Alabama State Board of Education. [22]
She is married to Allen Stewart, with whom she has three children. [1] One of her grandchildren is Jennifer Dallas.
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Guest Starring Roles
Starring Roles