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‘Soul Food’ star Irma P. Hall dies at 91; cause of death not disclosed
Actress Irma P. Hall, remembered for playing Big Mama in Soul Food, has reportedly died at 91.
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Actress Irma P. Hall, best known for playing Big Mama in the 1997 film Soul Food, has reportedly died at the age of 91. Fox Local reported her death on November 11, 2026. No cause of death has been shared so far.
Hall spent decades working in films, television and theatre. However, acting was not her first career. She worked as a schoolteacher in Dallas for 20 years before deciding to pursue acting full time in 1984.
Irma P. Hall's journey from teaching to acting
Born Irma Dolores Player on June 3, 1935, in Beaumont, Texas, Hall moved with her family to Chicago in 1942. Her father was a jazz musician who introduced her to performances at clubs and local events.
According to The HistoryMakers, Hall studied at Briar Cliff College in Iowa before transferring to Texas College in Tyler, Texas, where she focused on foreign language education, including French and Spanish.
Her acting career began after actor and director Raymond St. Jacques noticed her during a poetry reading in Dallas. He offered her a role in the 1973 film Book of Numbers.
Hall also helped establish the Dallas Minority Repertory Theatre in 1972 and wrote a play called Gentle Fire, based on her poetry.
'Soul Food' and 'The Ladykillers' brought acting recognition
Hall became widely known for playing Big Mama in Soul Food (1997). Her performance earned her an NAACP Image Award for supporting actress.
A year earlier, she had appeared alongside Robert Duvall and James Earl Jones in A Family Thing (1996). Her work in the film earned supporting actress awards from the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Kansas City Film Critics Circle.
She also appeared in Nothing to Lose, Beloved and Collateral.
In 2004, Hall received the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance in The Ladykillers. She had been recovering from a serious car accident at the time.
Hall was also inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame and helped establish the African American Repertory Theatre in DeSoto, Texas.
