We are proud to have Irma P. Hall as our spokesperson for this program. Although she grew up in Chicago, Illinois, Irma P. hall was born in Beaumont, Texas. She attended elementary and high school in Chicago, and then graduated from Texas Collage in Tyler, Texas. She became an English and Foreign Languages public school teacher in Dallas, Texas for almost 30 years. During that time, she was also a reporter for the Dallas Express, and was the co-founder of The Dallas Minority Repertory Theatre, becoming an Administrator, and eventually found herself performing in their plays as well.

In 1973, while reciting one of her poems at a gathering of artists and writers, a visiting producer asked Ms. Hall to audition for a role in a film he was producing. The film was Book of Numbers,directed by Raymond St. Jacques, and Irma, a 36 year old teacher and mother of two, got the part. However, she didn’t give up her teaching career…. yet!

It wasn’t until 1978, after acting in several episodes of Dallas, as Tilly, the housekeeper, that her acting career gained momentum. Two TV movies followed, as well as a small role in the telefilm, Skyward, directed by Ron Howard. The following year she worked on two more TV movies, Crisis at Central High, and Broken Promise. As well as working steadily on TV and in features, Irma was performing on stage at various Dallas theatres. Finally, after 27 years of teaching, she quit to pursue acting full time. In the late 1980’s, Hall moved back to Chicago where she performed on stage at the Chicago Theatre Company, the Court Theatre, Goodman Theatre and with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. At the same time she was appearing in Chicago-themed movies such as Backdraft,, starring Kurt Russell and directed by Ron Howard, and Straight Talk, starring Dolly Parton and James Woods.

In 1996, Irma won the Chicago Film Critics Award for “Best Supporting Actress” for her performance as tough but lovable Aunt T in the film A Family Thing starring James Earl Jones and Robert Duvall. In 1998 she won an NCCAP Image Award for “Best Supporting Actress” for her work as Big Momma in the feature film Soul Food, and was again nominated for an Image Award in 2001 when she reprised her role in the Showtime series based on the film.

Since then, she has appeared in “Bad Company”,” Don’t Let Go”,” Our America”, “Patch Adams”, “Beloved”,” Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil”,” Steel”, “Buddy”,” A Lesson Before Dying”, “Babe”, “Something to Sing About”, “The Babe”, “The Kid Who Loved Christmas”, “To Sir With Love”, “Mo Money”,” Square Dance”, “Rugrats Kwanza Special”, and “The Long Hot Summer,” just to name a few.

In January of 2004, Irma P. Hall was seriously injured in car crash in which her broken ribs punctured her aorta, requiring open-heart surgery. She also sustained a broken arm and badly crushed ankle, but she recovered in time to see a private screening of her first three 2004 releases: The Ladykillers, in which she co-starred with Tom Hanks as Mrs. Munson, a tenacious church-going old Lady. She won the coveted Special Jury Award at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival for that performance, where Quintin Tarintino called her “a force of nature.” The other 2004 films were A Slipping Down Life with Guy Pierce and Lili Taylor, and Collateral, starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx in an Academy Award nominated performance.

As 2005 begins, Ms. Hall has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award for “Best Actress” for The Ladykillers, as well as the Movie Guide Awards. She was presented as a Black History Maker by the DuSable Museum in Chicago, and is being inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame at ceremonies in Austin, Texas in March, where she will be introduced by Ethan and Joel Coen, the directors of The Ladykillers.

Irma is grandmother to Shedrick, Sir and Toni, who live in Texas.