_edited.jpg)
ABOUT
Mariann Aalda is known for performances that feel lived-in. Since 2023, she has portrayed family matriarch Violet Givens on the Emmy-winning, streaming romance-crime drama, The Bay. She can also be seen starring as media mogul Opal Banks in the feature film, Spawns, which premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and is now streaming on multiple platforms.
Having recently won acting awards on the festival circuit for the shorts To Grieve or Not to Grieve, (Best Duo) and Ben & Tony (Best Supporting Actress-Comedy), she also broke a 30-year box office record at the prestigious National Black Theatre Festival with her solo show, Gettin’ Old Is a Bitch… But I’m Gonna Wrestle That Bitch to the Ground!
Mariann’s storied television career includes pioneering as the distaff half of one of the first Black soap-opera super-couples – Calvin & DiDi on ABC's Edge of Night – and membership in an elite cadre of series regular, recurring, and high-profile guest-star performers, which includes recurring as Anthony’s yuppie-from-hell girlfriend, Lita Ford, on the CBS sitcom, Designing Women, and three seasons co-starring opposite O.J. Simpson as the long-suffering coach’s wife, Ellen Parker, on the HBO dramedy, First and 10. Thanks to streaming, both shows are enjoying renewed popularity, along with her guest appearances on classic sitcoms such as Family Matters and
The Parkers.
Mariann with Rhonda Ross Kendrick on The Bay
Other legacy roles include recurring as the tragically disfigured Lena Hart, mom to Sherri Saum, on the NBC soap Sunset Beach, and mom to Larenz Tate and Naya Rivera, as one of the stars of the CBS sitcom The Royal Family with Redd Foxx and Della Reese. Her film career stretches from featured roles in urban classics (The Wiz, Class Act) to box-office blockbusters (Pretty Woman).
REELS
SERIES
THE BAY
Recurring as Violet Givens on the Emmy Award-winning romance crime-drama streamer, The Bay, since 2023.
FEATURE
SPAWNS
Starring as ethically-challenged media
mogul Opal Banks in Spawns, which
premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film
Festival. Streaming Platforms: Hulu,
Amazon Prime, Tubi.
SHORT
TO GRIEVE OR NOT TO GRIEVE
Co-starring as Linda in this late-in-life
romantic dramedy. The film has won numerous festival awards, including Best Duo for Aalda and her co-star, Donald Watson, at the Los Angeles Film Festival, 2024.
STAND-UP
LAUGH FACTORY
As well as a comic actress, Mariann also is a stand-up comedian.
"Not Ageless. AgeFULL."- Mariann Aalda
SPEAKER/ADVOCATE
Mariann Aalda's decision to "embrace the gray" in December, 2024, was unplanned. While her colorist was on vacation, the emergence of a salt-and-pepper crown threaded with silver highlights captured her attention, which resulted in more than just a cosmetic shift. She shares the unexpected consequences of that moment --- along with the many plot twists and evolutions of her life and career -- with audiences who have followed her since her groundbreaking portrayal of attorney DiDi Bannister on Edge of Night, a role that helped shape a new vision of the Black female professional on television. Had the show remained on the air, DiDi would probably be a judge by now...or maybe a senator.
As a standup comic & performance artist, keynote speaker; regular contributor to the pro-age digital magazine, Crunchytales.com -- and with more than 40 podcast appearances as an expert on internalized ageism and interviews in The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal -- Mariann is changing the narrative on women and ageing by example.
With humor and positivity, she refuses to be invisible!
For a curated collection of interviews, articles and appearances, including TEDx and AARP profiles -- and for all speaker and personal appearance bookings, visit LinkedIn.
“Where lives intersect at the telling of a story, wisdom grows, hurts heal and lives change."
- Mariann Aalda
The Pride & Prohibition Collection
K. Peterson, LottaPhoto