{{short description|American actress, performance artist, and stand-up comic}} {{Multiple issues| {{BLP sources|date=August 2010}} {{Lead too short|date= July 2021}} }} {{Use American English|date=July 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Mariann Aalda | image = Mariann Aalda.jpg | birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date |71 |2020 |1 |23}}<ref name="b"/><!-- Valid citation required for date of birth for BLP. (WP:BLPPRIVACY) --> | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | occupation = {{hlist|Actress|comedian}} | years_active = 1978–present }} '''Mariann Aalda''' (born {{Birth based on age as of date |71 |2020 |1 |23 |noage=1}}) is an American television, stage, film actress, performance artist, and stand-up comic.
==Career== Aalda is best known for her work in television as one of the first African-American daytime soap opera heroines, playing DiDi Bannister-Stoner on ABC's ''The Edge of Night''<ref name="b">{{cite news |title=71-Year Old Black Actress Who Made Soap Opera History in the 1980's Refuses to Retire |url=https://www.blacknews.com/news/mariann-aalda-black-soap-opera-actress-refuses-retire/ |access-date=December 30, 2020 |work=Blacknews.com |date=January 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201230161423/https://www.blacknews.com/news/mariann-aalda-black-soap-opera-actress-refuses-retire/ |archive-date=December 30, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> from 1981 until the show's cancellation in 1984. For many years before that she was a writer-performer with the sketch comedy troupe Off Center Theatre in New York, and toured with the Boston-based improv group, The Proposition, along with notable animation voice actor and director, Charlie Adler.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.journalnow.com/entertainment/getting-old-is-tough-actress-uses-humor-to-talk-about/collection_727806e1-7716-58c4-b39a-a334b6d454e0.html|title=Getting old is tough. Actress uses humor to talk about the ups and downs of aging|last=Clodfelter|first=Tim|website=Winston-Salem Journal|language=en|access-date=2019-09-03}}</ref> Later, she appeared on the CBS show ''Guiding Light''. She also had regular roles on the CBS sitcom ''The Royal Family'', as the daughter of Redd Foxx and Della Reese,<ref>{{cite news |last1=O'Connor |first1=John J. |title=Mom Adds a Daughter, and a Show Goes On |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/108951800 |access-date=December 30, 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=April 8, 1992 |page=C 24|id={{ProQuest|108951800}}}}</ref> and the HBO series ''1st & Ten'', as the wife of O. J. Simpson's character.
Aalda also achieved notoriety recurring on the CBS sitcom ''Designing Women'', as Anthony's yuppie-from-hell girlfriend, Lita Ford, and on the NBC soap opera ''Sunset Beach'' as the tragically disfigured Lena Hart. She co-hosted the lifestyle show ''Designs for Living'' on the USA Network and was a reporter for the magazine show ''NOW!'' on WNBC in New York. Her numerous guest-star roles are mostly sitcoms.
Aalda has also appeared in movies, co-starring in the urban cult film ''Class Act'' as rapper Kid's clueless mom, and as Coach Harrison in ''Nobody's Perfect''. She was a featured player in ''Beaches'' and ''Pretty Woman'', directed by Garry Marshall and The Wiz, directed by Sidney Lumet.
thumb|220x124px|right|Mariann Aalda shows how to stand up to ageism in TEDx talk.
She is active in the positive ageing movement, with a TEDx Talk<ref>[https://www.ted.com/talks/mariann_aalda_ageism_is_a_bully_stand_up_to_it TEDx Talk]</ref> and AARP recognition as an "Age Disruptor".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.aarp.org/disrupt-aging/stories/disruptors/info-2017/mariann-aalda-career-reinvention-video.html |title=Age Disruptor |access-date=April 24, 2022 |archive-date=April 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424162400/https://www.aarp.org/disrupt-aging/stories/disruptors/info-2017/mariann-aalda-career-reinvention-video.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> She is a regular podcast guest on the topic of 'shameless ageing' and is resident Age Anarchist for Women of Color Unite (WOCU), a 5000-plus member advocacy group for women of color working both above and below the line in the entertainment industry. She discussed positive ageing as a stand-up comedian and with her solo "existential comedy" show, ''Getting Old Is a Bitch...But I'm Gonna Wrestle That Bitch to the Ground!'',<ref>[https://vimeo.com/517915740 ''Getting Old Is a Bitch...But I'm Gonna Wrestle That Bitch to the Ground!'']</ref> which broke a 30-year box office record at the 2019 National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
==Film and television credits== {| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Film |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1978 | ''{{sortname|The|Wiz|The Wiz (film)}}'' | Guest at Aunt Emma's Party | |- | 1988 | ''Beaches'' | Ticket Seller | Alternative title: ''Forever Friends'' |- | 1989 |''Nobody's Perfect'' | Coach Harrison | |- | 1990 | ''Pretty Woman'' | Saleswoman | |- | 1992 | ''Class Act'' | Duncan's Mom | |- |}
{| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Television |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1981–1984 | ''The Edge of Night'' | Didi Bannister Stoner | Unknown episodes |- | 1985 | ''What's Happening Now!!'' | Theresa | 1 episode |- | 1986 | ''The Last Precinct'' | Angela Beauchamp | 1 episode |- | 1986–1987 | ''1st & Ten'' | Ellen | Unknown episodes |- | 1988 | ''Hooperman'' | | 1 episode |- | 1989 | ''Designing Women'' | Lita Ford | Episode: "The Girlfriend" |- | 1990–1991 | ''Guiding Light'' | Grace Battles | Unknown episodes |- | 1991–1992 | ''{{sortname|The|Royal Family|The Royal Family (TV series)}}'' | Elizabeth Royal Winston | 15 episodes |- | 1994 | ''Models Inc.'' | Janet Johnson | 1 episode |- | rowspan="2" | 1995 | ''Family Matters'' | Lois | Episode: "Midterm Crisis" |- | ''The O. J. Simpson Story'' | Eunice Simpson | Television movie |- | 1996 | ''Grace Under Fire'' | Student | 1 episode |- | rowspan="2" | 1998 | ''The Wayans Bros.'' | Casting director | Episode: "Help a Brother Out" |- | ''Chicago Hope'' | Woman | Episode: "The Other Cheek" |- | 1999 | ''Sunset Beach'' | Lena Hart | 13 episodes |- | 2000 | ''Veronica's Closet'' | Brian's Mother | Episode: "Veronica Checks Out" |- | 2003 | ''{{sortname|The|Parkers}}'' | Hanna Foster | Episode: "Join the Club" |- | 2006 | ''All of Us'' | Muriel | Episode: "He's Gotta Have It" |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{official website|http://www.mariannaalda.com/}} * {{IMDb name|id=0007363}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aalda, Mariann}} Category:1940s births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American actresses Category:21st-century American actresses Category:Southern Illinois University alumni Category:American soap opera actresses Category:Actresses from Chicago Category:American television actresses Category:American film actresses Category:American stage actresses Category:20th-century African-American actresses Category:21st-century African-American actresses Category:Year of birth missing (living people)