Sometimes fame comes later in life; and sometimes show business "discovers" you long after you've passed the ingenue status. Irma P Hall was a virtually unknown when she stole "A Family Thing" (1996) out from under established actors James Earl Jones and Robert Duvall. The actress won raves for portraying Aunt T, a blind 88-year old woman who misses nothing and has to tell Duvall about his true family roots in the black community.

With her broad smile and warm, inviting face, Hall makes one think that acting was something she had wanted to do since she was a child. In fact, her first