The Bright Side November 4th 2023

Marianne Aalda
To:

I grew up in the 1950's with big dreams of being an actress on TV. The resilience, tenacity and audacity it took for a little colored girl (that's what we were called back then) to get to Hollywood from my 5-block by 9-block, sleepy little village of Phoenix, IL, are now serving me well as a pro-aging evangelist. (See my TEDx Talk for the full story.)

My Primetime TV career flourished in Sitcom, including starring opposite comic legend Redd Foxx and Touched By An Angel star, Della Reese, as their daughter, Elizabeth, in the CBS sitcom, The Royal Family. Along with guest-starring in comedies headlined by Kirstie Allley, Mo’Nique, John Ritter, Brett Butler, Jean Smart, Delta Burke and Robert Guillaume (to name drop a few), I've also played the wife or girlfriend of Ernie Hudson, Dennis Haysbert, Clifton Davis, Sherman Hemsley, Miguel Niunez, Haywood Nelson and Harold Sylvester. (to drop a few more)...and co-starred opposite O.J. Simpson for three seasons as his wife, Ellen, in the HBO football dramedy, First & 10.

What I am probably most frequently recognized for is my

notorious recurring role opposite Meshach Taylor as his yuppie-from-hell girlfriend, Lita"I'll be waiting in the Beamer" Ford, on CBS’ Designing Women.

But in the 1980’s, I was a Daytime TV trailblazer as one of the first

-- and still few -- African-American soap opera heroines, playing the feisty, young criminal defense attorney, DiDi Bannister, on ABC’s Edge of Night, the distaff half of "Calvin & DiDi," one of

the first -- and still few -- BIPOC super-couples in the wonderful world of soaps. I went on to long-term, recurring daytime roles

on CBS’ Guiding Light and NBC's Sunset Beach, but it's "DiDi" for which I am most fondly remembered by soap opera fans. Now in my seventies, I'm renouncing basking in past career accomplishments in favor of marinating in new possibilities! Adding the skills of my training as a certified hypnotherapist (CHt.) and NLP practitioner to my artistry as an actor, I'm blazing a new trail: prosecuting ageism. Bringing diversity, candor and humor -- along with an expanded psychological awareness and fresh perspective -- to the exploration of the modern

older woman...to a societal, cultural and media landscape

that's woefully behind the times.

Host/MC & Speaker for a wide variety of events, from political fundraisers and charity telethons (March of Dimes) to corporate (SAG-AFTRA, Chicago Dept. of Human Services) to fashion and standup comedy shows. My social activism also extends to the other end of the age continuum, with a citation from the California State Assembly and an honor as "Volunteer of the Year" by the Los Angeles Dept. of Children’s Services for my work with at-risk youth (Friends of the Family & MacLaren Children’s Center) Click below for my profile as an AARP Age Disruptor and the TEDx Talk, "AGEISM IS A BULLY...STAND UP TO IT!" (Included in Ashton Applewhite's [This Chair Rocks] OldSchool.info guide to anti-ageism/pro-ageing resources.).