Irma P. Hall, 1935 – 2026

Character actress Irma P.  Hall, 91, died on Nov. 10. The daughter of sax player Samuel Player, she taught at Booker T. Washington High School and James Madison High School, both in Texas, till taking up acting in middle age. Often playing matriarchs, Hall appeared in such films and TV shows as Crisis at Central High, Split Image, Dallas, Backdraft, The Babe, Mo’ Money, Soul Food (both the movie and TV series) Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Beloved, Judging Amy, Jayne Mansfield’s Car, Chicago Fire, Hap and Leonard, and many other projects. She co-founded the Dallas Minority Regional Theater with Reggie Montgomery. She told the Chicago Sun-Times of her midlife career change, “I know this sounds strange, but I always wanted to play octogenarians, even when I was 30. The directors would always tell me I was too young! The first time I played an older woman, my own mother didn’t recognize me.”