Early roles

Among the plays Avery appeared in were Revolution and The Sistuhs. In 1972, she received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress for her performance in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?.^[5][6] In the television movie Something Evil (1972), a horror story with Sandy Dennis and Darren McGavin, Avery was directed by Steven Spielberg. That same year she made her theatrical motion picture debut as Lark in the crime film Cool Breeze with Thalmus Rasulala and Judy Pace. In this blaxploitation remake of The Asphalt Jungle, Avery played the Marilyn Monroe part. The following year she played a prostitute in Magnum Force, the second in the series of Dirty Harry films starring Clint Eastwood, in which her character was murdered by her pimp. The character was killed by pouring drain cleaner down the victim's throat, which was said to have inspired the notorious Hi-Fi murders case in 1974.^[7][8]

Avery received NAACP Image Awards for her performance in the 1976 film Louis Armstrong - Chicago Style. In the 1977 film Which Way Is Up?, directed by Michael Schultz, Avery gave a comedic performance as Annie Mae, the wife of Richard Pryor's character. That same year, she played Belle Joplin, wife of the ragtime composer Scott Joplin, opposite Billy Dee Williams in the title role in film Scott Joplin, receiving NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture nomination. In 1979, she appeared in The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh.^{[citation needed]}

Avery made guest appearances on many television series during 1970s and 1980s, including The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Kojak, Marcus Welby, M.D., Sanford and Son, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Rookies, five appearances on Harry O, A.E.S. Hudson Street, T. J. Hooker, Murder, She Wrote, Miami Vice, Spenser: For Hire, and The Cosby Show.

The Color Purple

In 1985, Avery played the role of Shug Avery in the period drama film The Color Purple directed by Steven Spielberg. Her performance in this screen adaptation of Alice Walker's prize-winning novel The Color Purple was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.^[9] Avery was the last character to be cast in the film. In her Essence interview she said: "I had been singing in Indonesia and came back to find all these messages on my answering service from other actors saying, ‘Hey Margaret, you’ve got to get your agent on The Color Purple.’ My agent at the time had tried to get me an audition but was told that I wasn't right for the role— they wanted a singer, not an actor. I knew Ruben Cannon, who was casting at that time, because he'd cast me in so many television things before, so I wrote him a note. I had read the book and was drawn to Shug Avery. Ruben allowed me to put my reading for the role on tape. Because of him, I was able to get my work seen by Steven Spielberg. Alice Walker said that she had seen a lot of tapes of other actors, but when my audition came up, she just kind of woke up. She couldn't take her eyes off me. That was like a beautiful introduction to getting the role."^[10]

After The Color Purple and Oscar nomination, Avery did not work on film or television for two years. She said, "The fact that I didn’t work for a couple years after The Color Purple is not unique. It not only happens to White actors sometimes, but with Black actors, too, but more so for women of color. At the time, most women of color who were in the business were limited to Black film; whereas my counterpart like Danny Glover, went on to Lethal Weapon One, Two, and Three. He didn’t have to be limited to a Black film; he didn’t have to be married to a family, or related to somebody, like we women have to. I didn’t work for a couple years after The Color Purple. What saved me was the college lecture circuit. I kind of got a backlash for two reasons; one, no one would even think of me for a television role because they figured she’s too big to do TV now. That was the pattern."^[10]

Subsequent work

In 1988, Avery starred in the period drama film Blueberry Hill, and the following year appeared in action film Riverbend. In 1990, she appeared in The Return of Superfly, another blaxploitation film. In 1992, Avery starred in the ABC miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream as Martha Scruse, mother of Katherine Jackson, who was played by Angela Bassett. In 1995, she co-starred opposite Harry Belafonte in the drama film White Man's Burden. The following years, she guest-starred on number of television series, including Walker, Texas Ranger, JAG, and Bones. In 2008, Avery played Mama Jenkins in Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, opposite Martin Lawrence and James Earl Jones, and Sarah Brown in Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns, which also stars Angela Bassett.

From 2013 to 2019, Avery played the role of Helen Patterson in the BET drama series, Being Mary Jane. She played Taraji P. Henson' mother in the 2018 action film Proud Mary. She later guest-starred on Grey's Anatomy and Better Things.

Film

Television