R.I.P “Mrs. Bookman” She Passed Away, But Look What We Found

Posted On : May 30, 2016
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Marilyn Coleman as Mrs. Bookman on Good Times

I know the old school family remember’s the actress who played Mrs. Bookman on Good Times! Her name was Marilyn Coleman and she graced us with characters like Violet Bookman, Grandmama in “Menace II Society“, and Mrs. King in “The Five Heartbeats“. And for my true “old schoolers”, she was Sister Sarah in “Which Way Is Up?” starring alongside Richard Pryor.

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Actress Marilyn Coleman

Sadly Marilyn Coleman passed away in 2013 at the age of 79. In our research of “old schoolers” we were saddened to find out that she had passed away, but we found a video that her grandchild put together for her service, and it was very enlightening! She had a love of music, and the gift of song that had been captured on video in her younger days and it was surely a pleasant surprise! Take a look at the video below.

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Marilyn Coleman as Mrs. King on The Five Heartbeats

Marilyn began performing as a singer at a very young age, but by the late 1960’s, Marilyn decided to try her luck in Hollywood, relocating there, and then began getting roles on film and TV, appearing in the popular Rudy Ray “Dolemite” Moore blaxploitation/comedy flick Disco Godfather, (1979) and the Keenan Ivory Wayans blaxploitation spoof comedy I’m Gonna Get You Sucka (1989).

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Marilyn Coleman as Grandma on Menace II Society

Her TV show appearances include Good Times, Lou Grant, The Love Boat, Family, The White Shadow and Amen. Now we all know her from these popular movies and TV shows, but Marilyn love of music was evident in her personal life. She was married to jazz percussionist Fred Allen, which they later divorced, and then she married jazz singer Fred Coleman.  Check out this video celebrating the life of Marilyn Coleman.

Marilyn died in on Philadelphia on June 25, 2013, she survived by three children, two brothers, four grandchildren, and four-great-grandchildren.

About I Love Old School Music

We salute the incredible people and beautiful memories of that "old school". We’re not saying that every artist and every facet of the soul era was perfect, but the artists’ contributions to soul music and the old school memories of that particular time are PRICELESS.