Barbara Meek
Barbara Meek | |
|---|---|
| Born | Barbara Anita Meek February 26, 1934 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | October 3, 2015 (aged 81) , U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Actress |
Barbara Anita Meek (February 26, 1934 – October 3, 2015) was an American actress best known to television viewers for playing the character of Ellen Canby for two seasons on Archie Bunker's Place.[1][2] Since 1968, Meek was an active member of the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island, and appeared in more than 100 Trinity Rep stage productions.[1]
Early life
She was born in
Career at Trinity
Highlights of Meek's stage career at Trinity included leading roles in the August Wilson plays Fences and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, James Purdy's Eustace Chisholm and the Works, Athol Fugard's Boesman and Lena, Peer Gynt, The Threepenny Opera, Tartuffe, The Visit, Fires in the Mirror, Adrian Hall and Robert Cumming's adaptation of A Christmas Carol (including the role of Ebenezer Scrooge), Terrence McNally's Master Class, Henry IV, Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer and, more recently, Lorraine Hansberry's Raisin in the Sun and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. Meek also appeared in the Broadway production of Wilson in the Promised Land.
In 2008, Meek appeared in Blithe Spirit at Trinity Rep, and Curt Columbus' adaptation of Antigone. She was in Camelot, The Crucible and Steel Magnolias during the 2010–2011 season, and Sparrow Grass in the 2011–2012 season.
Other stage performances
Meek played the role of Sadie in Having Our Say at Trinity Rep, a role she reprised for the play's European premiere at Vienna's English Theatre. In 1996, Meek appeared in the world premiere of A Lesson Before Dying by Romulus Linney at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Meek also performed at Hilberry Repertory Theatre, the Dallas Theater Center, the Cleveland Play House, The Repertory Theater of St. Louis, the Hampton Playhouse, The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and the Brandeis University Theatre.
Television roles
Meek's other television roles included Adrian Hall's adaptations of
Meek made guest appearances as Veronica Everestt on As the World Turns in both 1992 and 1997, Samantha Monroe on General Hospital in 1994 and 1999, and Verne Garrison on Guiding Light in both 1993 and 1999.
Honors
Ms. Meek received an Honorary Doctor of Arts Degree from the University of Rhode Island, and the 2004 Pell Award for Excellence in the Arts. She also received the Foundation for Repertory Theatre Award, the Wayne State University Arts Achievement Award in Theatre, and the Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence.
In 2006, she was awarded the Edward Bannister and Christiana Bannister History Makers Award from the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society.
Personal life and death
Meek died on October 3, 2015, of a heart attack.[3]
References
- ^ a b c "Passages: Longtime Trinity Rep actress Barbara Meek dies". The Providence Journal. 3 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
- ^ "Famed Trinity Rep Actress Barbara Meek Dies at 81". GoLocalProv. 4 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
- ^ "Barbara Meek, 81; Trinity Rep and TV actress - the Boston Globe". The Boston Globe.
External links
- Barbara Meek at IMDb
- Trinity Rep