Love in Exile

2026

Poitier's Walter Lee

2018 · Self (archive footage)

Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee

2014 · Self

Betty and Coretta

2013 · Narrator

Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal

2013 · Self

ألف كلمة

2012 · Annie McCall

Video Girl

2011 · Valerie

Politics of Love

2011

The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll

2011 · Miss Candy

America

2009 · Mrs. Harper

A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School

2009 · Narrator (voice)

رجل عصابات أمريكي

2007 · Mama Lucas

All About Us

2007 · Ms. Ella

In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema

2007 · Herself

Steam

2007 · Doris

Our Paul: Remembering Paul Robeson

2007 · Self

No. 2

2006 · Nanna Maria

The Way Back Home

2006 · Maude

Discovering William Greaves

2006 · Self

Their Eyes Were Watching God

2005 · Nanny

TV in Black: The First Fifty Years

2004 · (archive footage)

Beah: A Black Woman Speaks

2004 · Self

Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives

2003

Theater Talk: 'A Raisin in the Sun'

2002 · Self

Feast of All Saints

2001 · Elsie Claviere

Taking Back Our Town

2001 · Emelda West

A Storm in Summer

2000 · Grandmother

Finding Buck McHenry

2000 · Mrs. Henry

Baby Geniuses

1999 · Margo

The Unfinished Journey

1999 · Narrator (voice)

Paul Robeson: Here I Stand

1999 · Self

Passing Glory

1999 · Mommit Porter

Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years

1999 · Annie Elizabeth 'Bessie' Delany

Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood

1998 · Self

The Wall

1998 · Mrs. Mitchell (segment "The Badge")

A Time To Dance: The Life and Work of Norma Canner

1998 · Narrator

A Simple Wish

1997 · Hortence

Sports on the Silver Screen

1997 · Self (archive footage)

Mr. and Mrs. Loving

1996 · Sophia

Captive Heart: The James Mink Story

1996 · Indigo

Just Cause

1995 · Evangeline Ferguson

Tuesday Morning Ride

1995 · Jennie

The Stand

1994

Whitewash

1994 · Grandmother (voice)

Cop & ½

1993 · Rachel

After Goodbye

1993 · Narrator

The Ernest Green Story

1993 · Lydia Wilson

Color Adjustment

1992 · Narrator

Jungle Fever

1991 · Lucinda Purify

Jazztime Tale

1991 · Narrator (voice)

Zora is My Name!

1990 · Zora Neale Hurston

The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson

1990 · Jackie's Mother

Decoration Day

1990 · Rowena

Love at Large

1990 · Corrine Dart

Do the Right Thing

1989 · Mother Sister

Making 'Do the Right Thing'

1989 · Self

Go Tell It on the Mountain

1984 · Mrs. Grimes

Cat People

1982 · Female

Long Day's Journey Into Night

1982 · Mary Tyrone

All God's Children

1980 · Irene Whitfield

The Torture of Mothers: The Case of the Harlem Six

1980

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

1979 · Grandmother Baxter

Countdown at Kusini

1976 · Leah Matanzima

Wedding Band

1974 · Julia Augustine

It's Good to Be Alive

1974 · Ruth Campanella

Chelsea D.H.O.

1973 · Dr. Bianca Pearson

Buck and the Preacher

1972 · Ruth

On Merit

1972 · Narrator (voice)

To Be Young, Gifted and Black

1972 · Lorraine Hansberry and other assorted characters

Black Girl

1972 · Netta's mother

The Sheriff

1971 · Sue Ann Lucas

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis

1970 · Self (archive footage)

Deadlock

1969 · Lucinda

Uptight

1968 · Laurie

The Incident

1967 · Joan Robinson

Now is the Time

1967 · Self

Neighbours

1966 · Vicky Kingsbury

Gone Are the Days!

1963 · Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins

The Balcony

1963 · Thief

A Raisin in the Sun

1961 · Ruth Younger

Take a Giant Step

1959 · Christine

Virgin Island

1959 · Ruth

St. Louis Blues

1958 · Elizabeth

Edge of the City

1957 · Lucy Tyler

Go Man Go

1954 · Irma Jackson

The Tall Target

1951 · Rachel

The Jackie Robinson Story

1950 · Rae Robinson

No Way Out

1950 · Connie Brooks (uncredited)

The Fight Never Ends

1948

What a Guy

1948

Easy to Get

1947 · Drugstore Girl

That Man of Mine

1946 · Joan

Love in Syncopation

1946

Baby of the Family

Diamonds on the Silver Screen

· Self

Hollywood Black

2024 · Self (archive footage)

Iconoclasts

2005 · Self

Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years

2002 · Narrator

سي اس آي: التحقيق في مسرح الجريمة

2000 · Mary Wilson

Little Bill

1999

Christianity: The First 1000 Years

1998 · Herself - Narrator

Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child

1995 · Grandma (voice)

Touched by an Angel

1994 · LaBelle Springbelt

The Stand

1994 · Mother Abagail Freemantle

Middle Ages

1992 · Estelle Williams

American Experience

1988 · Narrator (voice)

China Beach

1988

Lincoln

1988 · Elizabeth Keckley

The Golden Girls

1985 · Mammy Watkins

Spenser: For Hire

1985

The Atlanta Child Murders

1985 · Faye Williams

Reading Rainbow

1983 · Self - Narrator (voice)

American Playhouse

1982 · Mrs. Grimes

Roots: The Next Generations

1979 · Queen Haley

The Kennedy Center Honors

1978 · Self

Police Woman

1974

Great Performances

1971 · Self

The Dick Cavett Show

1968 · Self - Guest

The Fugitive

1963 · Laura Smith

The Great Adventure

1963 · Harriet Tubman

The Defenders

1961 · Catherine Collins

Armchair Theatre

1956 · Vicky Kingsbury

The Oscars

1953 · Self

Hallmark Hall of Fame

1951 · Rowena Finch