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Tonea Stewart
Dr Tonea Stewart (born February 3, 1947),[1] also Tommie Stewart, is an American actress and university professor. She is the former dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts of Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama.[2] She had a recurring role as Aunt Etta Kibby in the American television series In the Heat of the Night,[2] and is an NAACP Image Award nominee for acting in film A Time to Kill. From the beginning of her acting career until 2019, Stewart concurrently worked as an actress and educator; she did not act full time until her retirement from teaching.[3][4] Early life and educationStewart was born in Greenwood, Mississippi,[5] the daughter of Hattie (née Leonard) and Thomas Harris.[1] Her father worked as an electrician and plumber, while Stewart's mother was an educator.[5] They would divorce when Stewart was 4 years old.[5] Her sister, Beverly Branson, is a singer, and the two have performed together on stage.[6] Her original intention was to become a doctor, and she studied biology at Jackson State University. However, after acting in a school production, Stewart changed her major to theater.[5] She earned a BS degree in speech and theater at Jackson, and then studied theater at the University of California at Santa Barbara. In 1989, Stewart received a PhD in theater arts from Florida State University.[2] Acting careerStewart's first performance on screen was in TV movie Nightmare in Badham County (1976).[7] She appeared as Mrs. Walker in film Mississippi Burning (1988).[1] From 1991 to 1993, Stewart played Aunt Etta Kibby on In the Heat of the Night.[8] On the series, she had previously portrayed a different character, and returned under this new role as producers were impressed with her performance.[9] Stewart acted in the feature films Body Snatchers,[10] Livin' Large,[11] Mississippi Damned and Girls Trip.[4] She has made guest appearances on television series Matlock, Walker, Texas Ranger,[12] ER and Touched by an Angel.[1] She played Gwen Hailey, the wife of Samuel L. Jackson's character, in A Time to Kill (1996).[13] Stewart received an NAACP Image Award nomination for her work in this film.[4] In Come Sunday (2018), she portrayed the mother of Pentecostal bishop Carlton Pearson.[5] The majority of Stewart's work has been in television films.[1] She acted in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy 'Satchel' Paige (portraying the mother of Satchel Paige)[14] and The Rosa Parks Story, where she appeared as Johnnie Carr.[15] In 1994, Stewart appeared in the TV movies One Christmas as Evangeline[16] and A Passion for Justice: The Hazel Brannon Smith Story as Henrietta.[17] She portrayed Memaw, the grandmother of Halle Downing, in the Oprah Winfrey Network movie First Christmas.[18] Teaching careerStewart began teaching in 1971,[4] educating high school students.[1] At her alma mater, Jackson State University, she taught speech to her students.[19] By 1983, Stewart was assistant professor for the dramatics and speech departments at Jackson.[20] Starting in 1990, she was a professor at the College of Visual and Performing Arts for Alabama State University, also chairing the theater department.[4] Stewart eventually became dean before retiring in 2019 after 48 years in education.[4] One of her students was Stephen Boss.[21] In 2020, Stewart was appointed by Alabama state governor Kay Ivey to represent the fifth district of the Alabama State Board of Education.[22] Personal lifeShe is married to Allen Stewart, with whom she has three children.[1] One of her grandchildren is Jennifer Dallas. Filmography
TelevisionGuest Starring Roles
Starring Roles
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