Virginia Capers (born Eliza Capers; September 22, 1925 – May 6, 2004) was an American actress. She won the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical in 1974 for her performance as Lena Younger in Raisin, a musical version of Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun.
Career She made her Broadway debut in the musical Jamaica in 1957 as a replacement for Adelaide Hall in the role of Grandma Obeah, taking over the role when Hall left the musical. Capers went on to appear in Saratoga and Raisin.
Capers was a familiar face to television audiences. In addition to a recurring role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as Hattie Banks, she appeared in many television shows, including Have Gun – Will Travel, Dragnet, Marcus Welby, M.D., My Three Sons, Mannix, The Waltons, Mork & Mindy, Highway to Heaven, St. Elsewhere, Murder, She Wrote, Evening Shade, The Golden Girls, Unsub, Booker, Married... with Children, The Practice and ER.
Capers appeared in such films as Norwood (1970), The Great White Hope (1970), Lady Sings the Blues (1972), The North Avenue Irregulars (1979), The Toy (1982), Teachers (1984), Howard the Duck (1986), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Beethoven's 2nd (1993) and What's Love Got to Do with It (1993).
Capers founded the Lafayette Players, a Los Angeles repertory theatre company for African-American performers. She was the recipient of the National Black Theatre Festival Living Legend Award, the Paul Robeson Pioneer Award, and the NAACP Image Award for theatre excellence.
Capers provided the narration for the 1993 adventure game Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers. For her performance, she won Computer Gaming Worlds award for Best Female Voice-Over Acting; the editors had expected to give the award to someone portraying a specific character but were "totally overwhelmed" by Capers as the narrator, stating that "Her performance alone makes it worthwhile to purchase the CD version" (as voice acting is absent from some versions of the game).
Death Capers died on May 6, 2004, of complications from pneumonia in Los Angeles, aged 78.
Filmography Film and television Year Title Role Notes1962 House of Women Sarah 1967 The Ride to Hangman's Tree Teresa Moreno Uncredited1969 The Lost Man Theresa 1970 There Was a Crooked Man... Cook Uncredited1970 Norwood Ernestine 1970 The Great White Hope Sister Pearl 1971 Support Your Local Gunfighter Effie 1971 Big Jake Delilah 1971 The Late Liz Martha 1972 Lady Sings the Blues Mama Holiday 1972 Trouble Man Macy 1973 The World's Greatest Athlete Native Woman 1973 Five on the Black Hand Side Ruby 1979 The North Avenue Irregulars Cleo 1982 The Toy Ruby Simpson 1984 Teachers Landlady 1984 Highway to Heaven Miss Hendrickson 1985 Da Capo Da Capo 1986 Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling Emma Ray 1986 Ferris Bueller's Day Off Florence Sparrow 1986 Howard the Duck Cora Mae, Secretary 1987 Off the Mark Velma 1988 Backfire Maxine 1988 The Golden Girls Greta Wagner 1990 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Hattie "Grandma" Banks 6 episodes1990 Pacific Palisades Shirley 1992 Batman: The Animated Series Judge (voice only)1993 What's Love Got to Do with It Choir Mistress 1993 Knots Landing Adele Carter 3 episodes1993 Beethoven's 2nd Miss Linda Anderson 1995 A Last Goodbye The Principal 1995 Truman Elizabeth Moore 1997 The Practice 1999 Bad City Blues Mrs. Green 2001 ER Mrs. Wilson 2 episodes
Video games Year Title Role1993 Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers Narrator
References
External links