Irma P. Hall

Irma P. Hall was born Irma Dolores Player Hall on June 3, 1935 in Beaumont, Texas, the daughter of saxophonist Samuel Player and hospital clerk Josephine Hall. The family relocated to Chicago’s South Side in 1942 seeking better educational opportunities, and Hall later attended Briar Cliff College in Sioux City before transferring to Texas College where she earned her degree. From 1962 she taught French, Spanish and other languages at Booker T. Washington High School in Houston and James Madison High School in Dallas, a career she pursued until 1984 when she transitioned to acting full‑time. Her screen debut came at age 37 with the independent film Book of Numbers, after being spotted by actor‑director Raymond St. Jacques at a poetry reading, a chance that sparked a lifelong passion for performance and led her to co‑found the Dallas Minority Regional Theater.

In the ensuing decades Hall became a revered character actress, frequently embodying matriarchal figures. She earned critical acclaim for her role as Aunt T. in A Family Thing (1996), garnering Chicago and Kansas City film critics awards, and solidified her fame as Josephine “Big Mama Joe” Joseph in Soul Food (1997), a performance that won an NAACP Image Award and later a television series reprise. Her later work includes notable turns in The Ladykillers (2004) – for which she received the Jury Prize at Cannes – and appearances in Collateral, Werner Herzog’s films, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Despite a serious car crash in 2004, Hall recovered fully and continued acting, with guest spots on Law & Order: SVU, The Game, and Chicago Fire, as well as a recurring role in Hap and Leonard (2017). She resides in Dallas with her family, is a practicing Catholic, and is the mother of two children and grandmother of four.