Beah Richards Biography

Fast Facts

• Inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame
• In 1947, was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame
• She began garnering attention after her role in the off-Broadway production "Take a Giant Step․"
• Studied at Dillard University in New Orleans before moving to New York City to pursue acting
• Quote: "Both class and race survive education, and neither should․ What is education then? If it doesn’t help a human being to recognize that humanity is humanity, what is it for? So you can make a bigger salary than other people?"
• Quote: "There are a lot of movies out there that I would hate to be paid to do, some real demeaning, real woman-denigrating stuff․ It is up to women to change their roles․ They are going to have to write the stuff and do it․ And they will․"
• Quote: "The world you want to create needs you․ It needs you to create it․ It needs to hear what you have to say․ The last word has not been spoken․"