From her obituary:
Burrows began her Broadway career in the 1950s, starring alongside Ossie Davis in "The Wisteria Trees." She continued to perform on Broadway for several years, appearing in such shows as "The Green Pastures," "The Skin of Our Teeth," and "The Blacks." But Burrows became frustrated with the narrow range of roles available to Black women, and she left Broadway to pursue a solo career in one-woman shows.Burrows' one-woman Off-Broadway show, "Walk Together Children," was critically acclaimed and continued as an international tour after its initial run. She went on to perform other one-woman shows, including "Sister! Sister!" "Dark Fire" and “The Great White Way: The Story of Rose McClendon."
In 2020, she was honored with an Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement. Burrows was also an activist who represented the Women's International Democratic Federation at the United Nations.
As the Amsterdam News reported, Burrows "once noted that her greatest role in life was the one she performed for truth and justice."
She has been the subject of several tributes in recent days...
... including this piece in The New Yorker titled The Many Lives of Vinie Burrows.Vinie Burrows, an actress who made her mark on Broadway in the 1950s but who grew frustrated by how few choice roles were available for Black women and turned her focus to one-woman shows exploring the legacies of racism and sexism, has died at 99. https://t.co/qakbhiKE74
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 5, 2024
Here's a video message from Burrows from April 2020...
Burrows is survived by her son and daughter, six grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.
6 comments:
One among countless examples of Vinie Burrows public speaking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbnIp1Fr7Q0
Guided by the Song of my Ancestors
Vinie Burrows at St. Marks on the Bowery
RIP sweet Vinie :(
She was a big inspiration! RIP Vinie
A stellar life
Rest in peace Vinie
She was a friend of my grandmother, she was a lovely woman
Thanks for writig about Vin, a good person.
Post a Comment