{{Short description|American actress and singer (1946–2009)}} {{refimprove|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Alaina Reed Hall | image = Alaina Reed Hall.jpg | caption = Reed in 1976 | birth_name = Bernice Ruth Reed | birth_date = {{Birth date|1946|11|10|mf=y}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|2009|12|17|1946|11|10}} | death_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S. | occupation = {{hlist|Actress|singer}} | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Richard Cook|end=divorced}} * {{marriage|Kevin Peter Hall|1988|1991|end=d.}} * {{marriage|Tamim Amini|2008}} }} | children = 2 | education = Kent State University | other_names = Alaina Reed<br/>Alaina Reed-Amini | years_active = 1974–2009 }}
'''Alaina Reed Hall''' (born '''Bernice Ruth Reed'''; November 10, 1946 – December 17, 2009) was an American actress and singer who portrayed Olivia Robinson, Gordon's younger sister, on the PBS children's television series ''Sesame Street'', and Rose Lee Holloway on the NBC sitcom ''227''.
==Early years== In the mid-1960s, Reed attended Kent State University where she was active in many stage productions at KSU's E. Turner Stump Theater. These included ''The Streets of New York''; ''It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman!''; and ''The Tragedy of Tragedies — The Life and Death of Tom Thumb The Great''.{{Citation needed |date=September 2023}}
Alaina sang in a group called Tiny and the Dunnaways, an all girl singing group in Kent. In the fall of 1966, Glenn Lucas, Bob Boettcher and Bruce Rusin with Alaina "Tiny" Reed and Marty Kralik formed "The Velours". In February 1967. They began playing continuously, at the Kove in Kent, Ohio 5 nights a week until December 1968.{{Citation needed |date=September 2023}}
==Career== Reed began her professional career in Philadelphia and off-Broadway productions. She was among the original cast members in the 1974 off-Broadway production of ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the Road.'' Hall appeared in productions of ''Hair'' (Chicago in 1970 and the 1977 revival),<ref>Good Hair Days by Jonathan Johnson; p 88</ref> ''Chicago'', and ''Eubie!''.{{Citation needed |date=September 2023}}
In 1976, she won the role of Olivia on the children's series ''Sesame Street''. Her character was a photographer and the younger sister of Gordon. In 1985, she starred in the ''Sesame Street'' movie ''Follow That Bird'', reprising her role as Olivia. That same year, Hall co-starred on the sitcom ''227''. For a time, she traveled between New York City (where ''Sesame Street'' is taped) and Los Angeles (where ''227'' was taped). She left ''Sesame Street'' in 1988.
After ''227'' ended in 1990, Hall appeared in guest roles on various TV shows, including ''Herman's Head'' and ''Blossom''. She also provided the voice for animated characters on ''Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?''. In 1995, Hall co-starred on the short-lived WB sitcom ''Cleghorne!'', starring Ellen Cleghorne. The following year, she appeared in the television film ''The Cherokee Kid''. She also had recurring roles on ''Ally McBeal'', ''Any Day Now'', and ''ER''.
In addition to stage and television work, Hall also appeared in roles in feature films including ''Death Becomes Her'' (1992), ''Cruel Intentions'' (1999), and the 2007 independent feature ''I'm Through with White Girls (The Inevitable Undoing of Jay Brooks)''.
==Personal life== She was married three times and had two children.{{Citation needed |date=September 2023}}
Her first marriage was to Richard Cook, with whom she had two children. The marriage ended in divorce.{{Citation needed |date=September 2023}}
In December 1988, Reed married actor Kevin Peter Hall. She met Hall when he was a guest performer on ''227''.<ref>{{cite journal|date=2009-04-29|title=Actor Kevin Peter Hall Dies In L.A. At Age 35|journal=Jet|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|volume=80|issue=2|pages=62|issn=0021-5996|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e68DAAAAMBAJ&q=Kevin+Peter+Hall+Alaina+Reed&pg=PA62}}</ref> Kevin Hall died in April 1991 of complications from AIDS-related pneumonia. Kevin had contracted HIV after receiving a contaminated blood transfusion during surgery for injuries he sustained in a car accident a year prior.<ref>{{cite book|last=Snauffer|first=Douglas|author2=Thurm, Joel|title=The Show Must Go on: How the Deaths of Lead Actors Have Affected Television|publisher=McFarland|year=2008|pages=201|isbn=978-0-7864-3295-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Kevin Peter Hall, Actor, 35 | work=The New York Times | date=1991-04-19 | url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE0DA173BF930A25757C0A967958260 | access-date=2008-02-14}}</ref>
In 2008, Alaina Hall married Tamim Amini. They were married until her death.<ref name="latimes">[http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-alaina-reed-hall22-2009dec22,0,5733815.story Alaina Reed Hall dies at 63; actress was Olivia Robinson on 'Sesame Street'] latimes.com</ref>
==Death== Hall died of breast cancer at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California on December 17, 2009, at the age of 63.<ref name="latimes"/> She was cremated, and her ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean according to her husband, Tamim Amini. No funeral services were planned.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 23, 2009 |title=Alaina Reed Hall's remains to be scattered over Pacific; no funeral planned |url=https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/local/alaina-reed-hall-remains-scattered-over-pacific-funeral-planned/WBH5m1kPLASh8QAIYEMABL/ |access-date=December 5, 2024}}</ref>
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Film ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1985 | ''Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird'' | Olivia | |- | 1992 | ''Death Becomes Her'' | Martha | |- | 1993 | ''Me and the Kid'' | Sarah | |- | 1999 | ''Cruel Intentions'' | Nurse Olivia | |- | 2001 | ''Chasing Sunsets'' | Mrs. Stevens | |- | 2003 | ''Scrambled'' | Gert | |- | 2006 | ''The Shift'' | Mother | |- | 2007 | ''I'm Through with White Girls...'' | Jerri Moore | |- | 2007 | ''A-Date'' | Valerie | Short film |}
{| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Television ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1976–1988 | ''Sesame Street'' | Olivia Robinson | 59 episodes |- | 1978 | ''Cindy'' | Venus | Television film |- | 1978 | ''Baby, I'm Back'' | Jackie | Episode: "You Bet Your Wife" |- | 1985–1990 | ''227'' | Rose Lee Holloway | 115 episodes |- | 1991-1993 | ''Harry and the Hendersons'' | Lorraine Hall | 7 episodes |- | 1992 | ''Herman's Head'' | Margaret Bracken | Episode: "Bracken Up Is Hard to Do" |- | 1992 | ''A Different World'' | Claims Officer #5 | Episode: "Occupational Hazards" |- | 1993 | ''Blossom'' | Esther Smith | Episode: "Big Doings: Part 2" |- | 1995 | ''Friends'' | The Admissions Woman | Episode: "The One with Two Parts: Part 2" |- | 1995 | ''Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' | Nurse Doris Berkey | Episode: "Target: Jimmy Olsen" |- | 1995 | ''Cleghorne!'' | Lena Carlson | 15 episodes |- | 1995 | ''The Drew Carey Show'' | Lois Perry | Episode: "Pilot" |- | 1996 | ''The Cherokee Kid'' | Ma Holsopple | Television movie |- | 1997 | ''The Steve Harvey Show'' | Corinthia Grier | Episode: "I Do, I Don't" |- | 1997 | ''Between Brothers'' | Vera Ford | Episode: "Family Affair" |- | 1997 | ''NYPD Blue'' | Mrs. Angela Cheevers | Episode: "It Takes a Village" |- | 1997–1998 | ''Ally McBeal'' | Judge Elizabeth Witt | 3 episodes |- | 1998 | ''Caroline in the City'' | Stanchfield | Episode: "Caroline and the Cabbie" |- | 1999 | ''NewsRadio'' | Ms. Rose Dawson | Episode: "Apartment" |- | 1998–2000 | ''Any Day Now'' | Aunt Della Watt | 2 episodes |- | 2006 | ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' | Mrs. Minnie Mayweather | Episode: "Loosely Ballroom" |- | 2007 | ''ER'' | Betty Dixon | 2 episodes |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IBDB name|78245|Alaina Reed}} * {{IOBDB name|12265|Alaina Reed}} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20121007094000/http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=people&first=Alaina&last=Reed&middle= archive]) * {{IMDb name|0355271|Alaina Reed-Hall}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed Hall, Alaina}} Category:1946 births Category:2009 deaths Category:American musical theatre actresses Category:American television actresses Category:American voice actresses Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Deaths from breast cancer in California Category:Musicians from Greater Los Angeles Category:Actresses from Greater Los Angeles Category:American film actresses Category:American stage actresses Category:20th-century African-American women singers Category:20th-century American singers Category:20th-century American women singers Category:20th-century African-American actresses Category:20th-century American actresses Category:21st-century African-American actresses Category:21st-century American actresses Category:Kent State University alumni Category:Actresses from Ohio Category:Singers from Ohio