Barbara Montgomery

Barbara Montgomery (born June 25, 1939) is an American actress and director whose work spans stage, television, and film. A native of Queens, New York, she built her career across several decades, earning recognition in both theatrical and screen contexts.

Montgomery began her stage work in the 1960s through Off-Off-Broadway theatrical groups, including the Negro Ensemble Company and the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. Her early Off-Broadway work led to a significant credit when she took on the role of Mama in My Sister, My Sister, a production for which she received an Obie Award. The play subsequently transferred to Broadway, where it ran from April to August 1974 under the title Meet My Sister, with Montgomery reprising her role. Her Broadway career continued through 1983 and included appearances in Kennedy's Children, Inacent Black, and The Tap Dance Kid.

On television, Montgomery is perhaps best known for her four-year run on the NBC sitcom Amen, which aired from 1986 to 1990, where she played the recurring character Cassietta Hetebrink. Following her departure from that series, she joined the short-lived ABC program Married People in 1990, portraying Olivia Williams. Her television work also includes appearances on A Different World, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Disneyland, and Living Single.

In 2013, Montgomery expanded her career into directing with the historical film Mitote, which starred Ruby Dee and S. Epatha Merkerson and marked her feature directorial debut.