celebrity deaths

It’s time to say goodbye to yet another one of our stars who made Black actors shine. Suzzanne Douglas, an accomplished stage and screen actress who starred in the Robert Townsend television series, “The Parent ‘Hood,” has died, her representatives confirmed. She was 64. The Chicago native had an impressive list of credits that included films like “Whitney,” “School of Rock,” and “The Inkwell.” Douglas also starred in “Jason’s Lyric,” which was filmed right here in Houston.  The film also starred Forest Whitaker, Jada Pinkett Smith, Allen Payne and Bokeem Woodbine. On television, she also appeared in shows like “Bones,” “The Good Wife” and “NYPD Blue.” Director Ava DuVernay wrote on Twitter that Douglas was “a quiet, elegant force” as they made “WHEN THEY SEE US,” also saying she was a “confident, caring actor who breathed life into the words and made them shimmer.” Angela Bassett, who starred with Douglas in “How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” said, “Suzzanne was my brave, beautiful and brilliant sister. An incandescent light among us. I adored her essence, her energy, her intelligence, her grace, her faith and her fight. Suzzanne’s spirit was contagious. She saw the best in everyone, and God’s hand in every challenge. Even the most difficult. Rest, sweet angel.” No cause of death has been released at this time.