She gave an Oscar-nominated performance as Annie Johnson in the 1959 film Imitation of Life.
She began acting in the 1950's, a time when the roles available to African Americans were quite rare.
She became the fifth African American to be nominated for an Oscar Award.
Her son, Kirk Kelley-Kahn, was President of a theater troupe called Cambridge Players - Next Generation.
She lost the Best Supporting Actress Oscar to Shelley Winters for The Diary of Anne Frank in 1959.
