New Orleans-based actress Carol Sutton, whose long career spanned film, stage, and television performances, has died at 76 from complications of the coronavirus.
Suggested Reading
Sutton had been hospitalized at the Touro Infirmary in New Orleans with a COVID-19 infection and died on Thursday night, reports WGNO ABC.
The veteran actress featured in numerous big name film, TV, and theater productions and was active in the entertainment industry for decades.
From the Times-Piscayne:
โAmong actors in New Orleans, there was Carol Sutton - and there was everybody else,โ said David Cuthbert, a retired Times-Picayune critic. โShe opened her mouth, and out came truth. Wherever she was on stage, that was center stage.โ
After making her acting debut in the late 1960s in Dashiki Project Theatre productions, Sutton appeared on stages around the city in productions such as โThe Last Madam,โ โNative Tonguesโ and โA Raisin in the Sun.โ She moved to television in 1974 with โThe Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittmanโ and went on to roles in such movies as โMonsterโs Ball,โ โRay,โ โSteel Magnoliasโ and โThe Help,โ and in the television series โTremรฉ,โ โTrue Detectiveโ and โLovecraft Country.โ
Sutton also recently played the role of โAunt Marthaโ in the OWN series Queen Sugar, set in Louisiana.
โWe celebrate the life of the stellar Carol Sutton. It was our honor to welcome this veteran actress of stage + screen to our show,โ said Queen Sugar creator Ava DuVernay of Suttonโs death. โMay she rise and rest in peace and power.โ
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell also issued a statement in tribute to the actress.
โCarol Sutton was practically the Queen of New Orleans theater, having graced the stages across the city for decades,โ she said. โWe will always remember her commanding stage presence, her richly portrayed characters, and the warm heart she shared with her fellow cast and crew in productions such as โ4000 Milesโ and โA Raisin in the Sun.โ May she rest in Godโs perfect peace.โ
Sutton was honored with a Big Easy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. She is survived by two children and five grandchildren.
Straight From
Sign up for our free daily newsletter.