Grandmother Huxtable, Actress Clarice Taylor Dies at Age 93

On Monday, the world lost one of its most beloved grandmothers with the passing of Anna Huxtable, television mother of Heathcliff, grandmother of Rudy, Vanessa, Theo, Denise and Sandra. Actress Clarice Taylor died from heart failure at her Englewood , New Jersey home on Memorial Day 2011.

The 93-yearold Virginia native was born on September 20, 1917 . She entered the stage through the black door as did many gifted African American Actors. In 1942 she performed with the Negro Ensemble Company off Broadway in a production titled Sophie Slow, On Striver's Row. Over the next three decades she performed with the Negro Ensemble in dozens of productions; she also directed and co-directed several of them. Her face and name became familiar to mainstream America when she entered the small screen on a street where big yellow birds and green frogs resided. It was a street called Sesame and in 1976 Ms. Taylor was offered her first role as a television grandmother. She appeared periodically from 1977 to 1989 as Harriet, the grandmother of David.

Her presence on the small screen opened doors for other roles; she arrived as a guest on numerous television shows including Ironside, Spencer for Hire, The Doctors, Owen Marshall Counselor at Law and Sanford and Son. One of my favorite episodes of Sanford and Son features Ms. Taylor as Emma, the lazy sponging cousin of Fred Sanford's best friend Grady. That episode aired on March 29, 1974 and it highlighted her versatility as a comedic actress. .

In addition to her television career she was featured as "Biride" in Clint Eastwood's 1971 feature film. In 1973 she played Mrs. Brooks in the blaxploitation film, Five on the Black Hand Side. A list of other credits also is in his acting portfolio.

Clarice Taylor would again be hired as a television grandmother when she joined the cast of the Cosby Show in the role of Anna Huxtable. Married to actor Earle Hyman on the show the elder Huxtables (the actors and the TV couple) had a chemistry that made their relationship enviable and believable. The longevity of their marriage was the storyline for some of the shows most memorable episodes. The anniversary celebrations that turned the Huxtable living room into center stage featuring little Rudy singing "Baby". Ms. Taylor was nominated for an Emmy in 1986 for her role as Anna Huxtable but did not win. She did however; win the hearts of thousands of television fans who remember her now and always as Anna Huxtable, "one classy, witty and fun grandma."

She was married and divorced from Claude Banks Jr. She leaves behind two sons and five grandchildren.