Roxie Roker

Roxie Albertha Roker was born on August 28, 1929 in Miami, Florida. She was, however, brought up in Brooklyn, New York. She spent the rest of her childhood in New York before moving to Wahington DC for higher studies.

Her mother, Bessie (Mitchell), hailed from Georgia, and her father, Albert Hubert Roker, was from the Bahamas. She came from a poor family, where her mother worked as a domestic worker and her father was a porter.

Her mother was an African-American and her father was an Afro-Bahamian immigrant.

She went to the Howard University in Washington DC to earn a degree in Fine Arts. She received her degree in 1952.

During her college days, she became a part of a lot of productions, and was an active member in the Howard Players. She was also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.

After she moved to New York, she got a job in NBC’s New York office, but she never stopped performing at various Broadway plays.

She started her professional acting career with the Negro Ensemble Company where she successfully became a stage performer.

She did Off-Broadway shows and acted in Jean Genet’s Play, ‘The Blacks’. She continued acting in various plays until she got her first Broadway play.

She started acting in plays like ‘Ododo’ and ‘Rosalee Pritchard’, and received good reviews from the audience for her roles. Her other Off Broadway plays include ‘Behold! Cometh the Vanderkellans’ (1971) and ‘Jamimma’(1972).

In 1972, she did a play called ‘The Niger River’. Her performance as ‘Matie Willams’ in the play was greatly appreciated by the audience and even got her a few awards and achievements for her mind-blowing performance.

She received Broadway’s Tony Award nomination in 1974 for her portrayal of ‘Matie Williams’ in ‘The River Niger’. She was nominated as the ‘Best Supporting Actress.

She won an Obie Award for her role in ‘The River Niger’ in 1974. This honor marked her potential as a performer.