Claudia McNeil

{{Infobox person

|name=Claudia McNeil

|image=Claudia-McNeil.jpg

|caption=publicity photo, 1960

|birth_date= {{Birth date|1917|8|13|mf=y}}

|birth_place=Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.

|death_date= {{Death date and age|1993|11|25|1917|8|13|mf=y}}

|death_place=Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.

|occupation = Actress

|years_active = 1953–1983}}

Claudia Mae McNeil[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-windsor-star/153446769/ "U.-M. Presents 'Crucible'; Play Opens Tuesday at Ann Arbor, Mich."]. The Windsor Star. May 21, 1954. p. 25. Retrieved August 17, 2024. "Other important roles in the play include George Ebeling, Rev. Mr. Hale; Jane Hoffman, Mrs. Ann Putnam; Jerome Kilty, Rev. Mr. Parris;' Nell Harrison, Rebecca; Claudia Mae McNeil, Tituba; Mallory, Francis Nurse; Barbara Stanton, Mary Warren; Joseph Sweeney, Giles Corey." (August 13, 1917 – November 25, 1993) was an American actress known for premiering the role of matriarch Lena Younger in both the stage and screen productions of A Raisin in the Sun.

She later appeared in a 1981 production of the musical version of the play, Raisin presented by Equity Library Theater. She was twice nominated for a Tony Award, first for her onstage performance in A Raisin in the Sun (1959), and again for the play Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright in 1962. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award for the screen version of A Raisin in the Sun in 1961.

Life and career

McNeil was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Marvin Spencer McNeil, who was black, and Annie Mae (Anderson) McNeil, an Apache woman. The family moved to New York City soon after her birth. She was raised by her mother after her father left the family. At the age of 12, McNeil began working for The Heckscher Foundation for Children. There she met a Jewish couple who later adopted her,{{cite web |url= http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/true-acting-talent-claudia-mcneil |title= A True Acting Talent, Claudia McNeil |work= African American Registry |access-date= December 19, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120818071717/http://aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/true-acting-talent-claudia-mcneil |archive-date= August 18, 2012 |url-status= dead }} and McNeil became fluent in Yiddish.Hine, Dalen Clark; Brown, Elsa Barkley; Terborg-Penn, Rosalyn (1993). [https://books.google.com/books?id=gKh2AAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Claudia+McNeil%22+fluent+yiddish Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 2]. Brooklyn, NY: Carlson Publishing. p. 776. {{ISBN|9780926019614}}.

She was advised by Ethel Waters to begin acting, and made her New York stage debut in 1953, understudying Jacqueline Andre in the role of Tituba in The Crucible at the Martin Beck Theater.{{Cite web|title=Claudia McNeil – IBDB profile|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/claudia-mcneil-68295|access-date=2021-01-04|website=ibdb.com}} She first went on in the role in mid-March 1953.{{Cite web|title=March 28, 1953, Page 7 - The New York Age|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/40477320/?terms=%22claudia%20mcneil%22%20crucible&match=1|access-date=2021-01-04|website=Newspapers.com|language=en}}

File:Claudia McNeil A Raisin in the Sun 1959.JPG

In 1961, McNeil recreated her 1959 stage role in the film A Raisin in the Sun and became so identified with the part of the matriarch that she said, “There was a time when I acted the role.…Now I live it.” New York Times journalist Eric Pace summarized McNeil's performance explaining that she had a "commanding presence." Pace continued, "On the screen, Miss McNeil was stolid, voluminous and serene as a mother trying to control her son (played by Sidney Poitier) and wanting to buy her family a respectable home."{{cite news |title=Claudia McNeil, 77, an Actress Best Known for 'Raisin in the Sun' |author= Pace, Eric |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/29/obituaries/claudia-mcneil-77-an-actress-best-known-for-raisin-in-the-sun.html |newspaper= New York Times |date= November 29, 1993 |access-date=December 14, 2012}}

She acted in more films, including The Last Angry Man (1959), There Was a Crooked Man... (1970), and Black Girl (1972).

In 1980, she and Sam Levene starred in a summer stock and national tour of Henry Denker's comedy, Horowitz & Mrs. Washington.{{Cite news|title=Theater: Horowitz and Mrs. Washington|author=|date=August 1, 1980|work=Ithaca Journal|page=22|quote=Sam Levene stars as a cantankerous Jewish retiree recovering from a stroke, and Claudia McNeil stars as a black practical nurse who tries to care for him in this new comedy by Henry Denker at the Corning Summer Theatre, Corning Glass Center, tonight at 8:30 and Saturday at 5 and 9 p.m.|id={{ProQuest|2041691822}}}}

McNeil appeared in many TV series, including The DuPont Show of the Month (1957), The Nurses (1962), Profiles in Courage (1965), and Roots: The Next Generations (1979).

Personal life

McNeil was married when she was 19 to a husband whom she described as a "very wonderful man", whose name she wouldn't disclose. They had two sons. Her husband died in World War II. Both her sons were reportedly killed in the Korean War.{{cite book |title= Notable Black American Women Book II |last= Smith |first= Jessica Carter |year= 1996 |publisher=Gale Research Inc. (An International Thomson Publishing Company)|page= 465 |isbn= 9780810391772 |access-date=December 20, 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ssMBzqrUpjwC}}

Her second marriage (to Herman McCoy) ended in divorce after two years in 1964.{{cite news |title= Claudia McNeil seeks to end her marriage |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=U5YlAAAAIBAJ&pg=829,647338&dq=claudia+mcneil&hl=en|newspaper= Washington Afro-American|date= February 18, 1964 |access-date=December 20, 2012}}

She studied Judaism, the religion of her adoptive parents, in youth. Though she maintained a great respect for it, even saying she carried a copy of both the Talmud and the Bible with her wherever she went, she converted to Catholicism in 1952 and was said to have been devout.{{cite news |title= Claudia McNeil comes back home |newspaper= Washington Afro-American |date= October 15, 1960 }}{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QoVz2rpp-skC&dq=%22Claudia+McNeil%22&pg=PA99 |title=Ebony |date=1960 |publisher=Johnson Publishing Company |language=en}}

Retirement and death

She retired in 1983 and two years later moved into the Actors’ Fund Nursing Home in Englewood, New Jersey. McNeil died there on November 25, 1993, aged 76, from complications related to diabetes.{{Cite web |title=Claudia McNeil, Actress born |url=https://aaregistry.org/story/a-true-acting-talent-claudia-mcneil/ |access-date=2023-02-19 |website=African American Registry |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Claudia Mcneil |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/128621%7C32851/Claudia-Mcneil |access-date=2023-02-19 |website=Turner Classic Movies |language=en}}

Selected filmography

=Film=

The Last Angry Man (1959) - Mrs. Quincy
A Raisin in the Sun (1961) - Lena Younger
There Was a Crooked Man... (1970) - Madam
Black Girl (1972) - Mu' Dear

=Television=

The DuPont Show of the Month (1957) - Bernice Sadie Brown
The Nurses (1963) - Mrs. Hill
Profiles in Courage (1965) - Mrs. Haines
Moon of the Wolf (1972) - Sara
Cry Panic (1974) - Ethel Hanson
Roots: The Next Generations (1979) - Sister Will Ada
The Doctors (May 1980) - Mrs. Johnson

References

External links

{{IMDb name|573871}}
{{Find a Grave|6811293}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080509194750/http://www.public.iastate.edu/~spires/Concord/raisin.html ISU Play Concordances]
[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7DF1139F93AA15752C1A965958260 New York Times obituary]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20071215120041/http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/2506/A_true_acting_talent_Claudia_McNeil The African American Registry]

Category:1917 births

Category:1993 deaths

Category:20th-century African-American actresses

Category:20th-century American actresses

Category:Actresses from Maryland

Category:Actresses from New York City

Category:African-American Catholics

Category:20th-century African-American women singers

Category:African-American librarians

Category:American adoptees

Category:Burials at Kensico Cemetery

Category:Deaths from diabetes in New Jersey