Estelle Evans

Estelle Rolle Evans (October 1, 1906 – July 20, 1985) was a Bahamian-American actress whose career spanned stage, film, and television during the twentieth century. Born in Exuma, Bahamas, to Jonathan and Elizabeth Iris Rolle (née Dames), she was the eldest of eighteen children and the older sister of actresses Rosanna Carter and Esther Rolle. Her father relocated to Florida to work for the railway, and the rest of the family joined him there in 1920.

Evans pursued higher education at Florida Memorial College or Florida A&M University and subsequently worked as a teacher at Pompano Beach Elementary School. Her marriage to Walter Evans, an architectural draftsman, brought the couple to New York City in 1935, where she continued teaching at PS 156 in Manhattan. During this period she also studied drama at Hunter College and at the American Negro Theater, training alongside Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte.

Her Broadway career ran from 1947 to 1953 and included appearances in Our Lan' and Take a Giant Step. Concurrent with her stage work, Evans built a substantial presence in film. She played the mother in The Quiet One (1948), portrayed Calpurnia in the 1962 film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, and appeared in The Learning Tree (1969). Her performance in The Learning Tree earned her the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture.

Evans died on July 20, 1985, in New York City at the age of 76, survived by one son and one daughter. She was buried at Westview Community Cemetery in Pompano Beach, Florida.