Actress Irma P. Hall, known for her roles in films including “Soul Food,” “The Ladykillers” and “A Family Thing,” died on Tuesday. She was 91.
Hall’s family announced her death in a statement on Wednesday, People reported. No cause was given.
“Irma P. Hall was a beloved actress, author, poet, educator, and public speaker whose contributions touched countless lives throughout her remarkable career,” the family statement said. “{Her legacy of talent, dedication, and compassion will continue to inspire generations to come.”
Hall was best known for her role as Josephine “Big Mama” Joseph in the 1997 film “Soul Food,” according to Variety.
Irma P. Hall, who played Josephine “Big Mama” Joseph in the 1997 dramedy “Soul Food,” has died at 91. “Irma P. Hall was a beloved actress, author, poet, educator and public speaker whose contributions touched countless lives throughout her remarkable career,” her family wrote in a statement. “Her legacy of talent, dedication and compassion will continue to inspire generations to come.” https://t.co/PtRWcVKgWa
— Variety (@Variety) November 11, 2026
The role earned her an NAACP Image Award and led to a return as the character in the television series based on the film.
Hall was born Irma Dolores Player on June 3, 1935, in Beaumont, Texas, the news organization reported. Her father was a saxophone player, and her mother was a hospital administrator, according to People.
“I had a shockingly beautiful childhood,” Hall told Texas Monthly in 1998. “I was surrounded by aunts and uncles and cousins and parents and grandparents. We grew everything we ate. We had smokehouses and fruit trees and gardens. I was a princess. There was so much love.
“As long as I can remember, people were always teaching me poems and quoting Shakespeare.”
Hall taught high school for 27 years in a rural area of Texas before integration. She was discovered by director Raymond St. James, who cast her in the 1973 film, “Book of Numbers,” People reported.
Hall was 60 when “A Family Thing” brought her a major film role, according to The Associated Press. She played Aunt T., a blind woman whose advice guides two half-brothers (James Earl Jones and Robert Duvall).
“I didn’t know I wanted to (act), but God knew, and he didn’t tell me until late,” she told Entertainment Weekly in 1996.
“The ironic aspect of Irma P. Hall playing Aunt T is that she was not the first choice,” Jones told Texas Monthly. “But fate brought her to us anyway, and she overwhelmed us with her ability to sustain those long narratives and transform herself physically and chronologically into the character. She was Aunt T.”
Her credits ranged from the 1997 drama “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” to the 1998 films “Beloved” and “Patch Adams,” the AP reported. She also voiced Great Aunt T. in the 2001 “Rugrats” Kwanzaa special.
In the 2004 film ”The Ladykillers," a remake of the British film directed by the Coen Brothers, Hall was featured with Tom Hanks, Marlon Wayans and J. K. Simmons, People reported. At the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, she won the Jury Prize for her performance, according to the magazine.
“It was a wonderful experience working with Tom Hanks,” Hall told Art&Seek in 2008. “We bonded. I bond easily, I guess. I say that I have all these godchildren -- God sends them to me – and he’s become one as well as the Coen Brothers.”
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