Barbara Ann Teer, a renowned writer, producer, teacher, actor, and visionary, grew disillusioned with the negative stereotypes she encountered in her quest for responsible acting roles. Instead of simply walking away from the white-dominated entertainment field, she decided to make a difference.
Born in East St. Louis, Illinois, on June 18, 1937, to parents who were both educators and school administrators, Barbara was an extremely gifted child. She graduated from high school at age 15 and attended Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina, before transferring to the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she received her bachelor of arts in dance education, graduating magna cum laude.
Barbara moved to New York in 1959 and appeared in several stage productions, making her Broadway debut as a dancer in 1961's "Kwamina." She later returned to Broadway in 1966 as part of the cast of the comedy "Where's Daddy?" Injuries eventually forced her to rethink the direction of her career.
Barbara earned her share of notices along with other prominent and up-and-coming black talent in Off-Broadway productions, including "Raisin' Hell in the Son," "Home Movies," "Day of Absence," and "Who's Got His Own." However, she grew restless and felt she wasn't expanding enough.
During the 1960s, Barbara also began teaching at Harlem's Wadleigh Junior High School, where her method of instruction helped develop the Group Theatre Workshop, which would become the foundation for the illustrious Negro Ensemble Company.
The couple of roles she received in film were prime examples of her discontent. In "Slaves" (1969),she played a character that was deemed trashy and overwrought with caricature types. In "The Angel Levine" (1970),she played a welfare woman.
In 1968, Barbara wrote a fierce article in The New York Times encouraging a change, wishing better for herself as a person and a performer. She sought an autonomous black artistic culture free from mainstream influence.
That same year, Teer founded the National Black Theater, a non-profit institution dedicated to the performing arts, community advocacy, and the appreciation of the history and lifestyle of Black Americans. The theater bought its own residence at 125th Street and Fifth Avenue, and Barbara took on the daunting task of fund-raising and administrative duties.
The theater held classes, workshops, symposiums, and lectures, produced shows, and presented art exhibits. Creatively, Barbara also wrote and directed for the theater's music, dance, and theater troupe, which toured in several countries and throughout the United States.
Barbara's significance to Harlem's cultural renaissance was rewarded in later years. She received honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Rochester, New York, and the University of Southern Illinois. She also received the Otto Award for political theater and was listed in "Who's Who in America" and "Who's Who Worldwide."
Barbara died of natural causes in her beloved Harlem on July 21, 2008, at the age of 71. As a tribute, she lay in state at the National Black Theatre, and was interred back with her ancestors in her native East St. Louis. She is survived by her two children, Barbara and Michael Lipscott.
