Behind every great man, is an even greater woman. Isn’t that written somewhere?
Well, if it isn’t, then it’s definitely the case with veteran and beloved actor Samuel L. Jackson’s wife, celebrated actress LaTanya Richardson-Jackson.
After all, she was the reason Samuel L. Jackson got and stayed clean and sober in the first place and supported and helped him in more ways than one. The award-winning actress turns 72 this year and has seen and done it all with style.
Her film credits include “Mother and Child,” “Bolden,” “The Fighting Temptations,” “U.S. Marshalls,” and “Losing Isaiah.”
Television credits include “Harry’s Law,” HBO’s “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge,” “Boston Public,” and the critically acclaimed “100 Center Street.”
Her civic activities include Past trustee of Spelman College; board member at Ebony Repertory Theater, The Urban World Film Festival, and Artists for a New South Africa; advisory board member of The Women’s Center; advisory committee member of Atlanta’s True Colors Theatre Company.
She has received numerous awards for her civic activity from the Atlanta Urban League Guild, the United Negro College Fund, the Broward County Public Library, the National Kidney Foundation, and the Catalog for Giving.
LaTanya was born in Atlanta, Georgia. It was while he was at Morehouse that he met Richardson – who studied at another Black university, Spelman College.
The couple went on to have a daughter, Zoe, now 39. “We’ve been trying to be revolutionary ever since,” he laughs. She’s also the reason for Sam’s health now, including his desire to get tested for prostate cancer.
“Men seem to pay attention to me for some reason,” admits Samuel. “So I got involved with One For The Boys because I thought it was a worthwhile cause to lend that voice. When it comes to cancer, the world is way more pink than blue. Conversations immediately focus on the women’s issues: breast cancer, ovarian cancer, all of those things. But that’s because women deal with it. We’ve been raised in this macho culture where men are strong and resilient and silent.”
“I’m more interested in getting men to talk more openly with each other. Rather than worrying about something alone, men can get checked out as buddies. I had a friend who went with me to a clinic for a full-on physical. We spent 12 hours together. It was cool. I found out things about myself, he found out things about himself, and we talked about it. We started a special diet together and that became a bond in itself. Women do it all the time: you know, let’s do a cleanse, or, let’s go to the spa. Guys should do the same. Men play football together, they work out together, but they don’t do health stuff together and they should.”
The star couple’s long marriage has had numerous effects on both of their overall health.
And there’s research to prove it!
Studies show the link between marriage and health is a strong one. A report by HHS says that marriage increases the overall health of the man while reducing the likelihood of becoming hospitalized. Marriage is associated with shorter average hospital stays, fewer doctor visits, and reduced risk of nursing home admission.
Limited evidence also suggests that marriage may increase the use of preventive care such as prostate cancer screenings, arthritis medication adherence, healthy eating to reduce heart failure and bowel issues like ulcerative colitis.
Because of its effects on healthcare use, marriage is also associated with lower healthcare costs among older adults.
For example, studies show that, because marriage reduces the risk of nursing home admission, marriage may also lead to reduced nursing home costs.
Keep up the good work Sam and LaTanya!
LaTanya shared the underlying reason why she initially stopped working was because her and Sam’s connection was so powerful. “We met in a revolutionary situation, and we get involved in revolutionary situations all the time.”
A long marriage is revolutionary!
According to their interview with The Guardian, they both speak not of white culture but of “the dominant culture”, and navigating that as Black people.
Have the couple ever felt like they’ve had to choose between fully being themselves and the wants of the fickle showbiz world, an industry he entered relatively late (his big break, in Pulp Fiction, came at age 45)? “No,” Jackson says authoritatively. “We don’t compromise who we are to do the things we do.
It’s imperative that we be who we are. It’s not like we’ve never heard: ‘You’ll never work in this town again.’”
Richardson laughs. “Well you have – I haven’t!” she says, compared with Jackson.
“I was maybe 15, in high school. I had a great mentor/teacher, Georgia Allen, who took a few of us to Spelman College, to be a part of children’s theater.
I did theater at Spelman until I graduated from there, and I got to work with such luminous actresses as Diana Sands in ‘Macbeth.’
“Atlanta was a welcoming presence for a lot of artists.; They called it ‘the Mecca of the South.’ I got to see the Negro Ensemble Company, Cicely Tyson, Geraldine Page, Ruby Dee, all onstage. With cinema, all of us watched Bette Davis. It’s horrible to say, but she’s why I started smoking!”
“And then Diahann Carroll on TV [who starred in the 1968 series “Julia”] made everything seem possible. I never thought it impossible to be an actor.
I was a Southern colored girl, and part of the Black Power movement. I was always emboldened by the idea that I was going to succeed.
Around that time, I met Sam and we moved to New York. It never dawned on me that there were obstacles in my path.”
One of Richardson’s biggest roles was in the musical “The Fighting Temptations” in which she appears as the main antagonist, the hypercritical Paulina Pritchett.
“Georgia Allen said to always, tell the truth and never do anything the same way,” she tells Variety. “Find ways to vary it.
“Always listen for melodies in the way people talk. The tone may be same, but inflections will always be different. So listen to different melodies.”
“And Diana Sands said before you go onstage, count backwards from 100 to get yourself centered — so everything else will fall away and you will be totally focused on where you are, in the moment.”
“Still, to this day, I stand in the wings before my entrance and count from 100.”
In 2014, Richardson received a Tony Award nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Play for her performance in the play A Raisin in the Sun.
This was her second appearance on Broadway after her debut in the 2009 revival of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. She also appeared in Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird on Broadway in the 2018-19 season.
While still focusing on how to better the Black community, Richardson shares, “The people who are about change are about peaceful protest, and that’s what we have been. But now it’s time to take all that aggression and storm the ballot boxes.”
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