We often use photographs to look back on our youth and to remember things about our childhood. The woman in this article, Viola Davis has only one photo from her childhood, a kindergarten picture.
Viola Davis grew up in a time when she was dealing with severe hardship and poverty. Her parents were working stable jobs in a factory, but it wasn’t enough. They had to rely on food stamps and often ran out before more came in.
Davis often dealt with severe hunger as a result of the lack of food at her house. The only times she would get a meal every day was when she got her school lunch.
Many other problems were also experienced at home. The harsh winters were difficult to handle, and rats would often swarm through the home at night.
Even though Davis had to deal with such difficult situations, she didn’t let it dampen her hope for the future. She had always dreamed of doing something with her life, so she took advantage of her education and creativity to achieve it.
Davis was born in a one room shack on her grandmother’s farm in South Carolina. At one time, that property had been a plantation. Eventually, they moved the family to Rhode Island in hopes of a better life but poverty was a constant companion.
When Davis was nine years old, she got caught stealing and it affected her for many years. She said: “The store owner screamed at me to get out, looking at me like I was nothing.”
After taking full advantage of her education, and taking part in as many extracurricular activities as possible, she saw an opportunity to break free. This included a desire to write skits with her siblings, and eventually, she joined the Upward Bound Program, which helps students from low income families.
A scholarship from Rhode Island College would also come into play. She majored in theater and one of her professors saw that she had a lot of potential.
When she left college, she auditioned for Juilliard and secured one of only 14 of the spots available. Being accepted into Julliard meant a major turning point for her.
She was only 29 years old when she was in August Wilson’s play, Seven Guitars and earned a Tony award nomination. She said that her parents were in the audience on opening night and her father cried. She knew that she had made the right choice.
An Oscar nomination followed in 2008 for her role in Doubt. Suddenly, she had become a very familiar name to many.
In 2011, she was in the movie, The Help and received another Oscar nomination. She also won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for the part she played in “How to Get Away with Murder.”
In 2016, she was in the movie, Fences and won an Oscar and was then known as one of the most respected actresses of her time. Along with being an actress, however, she also has been very helpful to those in need.
Reflecting on her youth, she became an advocate for those who experienced childhood hunger and poverty, working with the Hunger Is campaign. More than $4.5 million was raised to help children have nutritious meals.
Davis married Julius Tennon, an actor and producer and they adopted a daughter, Genesis. She reflected on the responsibilities of motherhood, saying: “You could be a bad actor.[..] but you cannot be a bad mother.”
In 2020, she bought the dilapidated house in South Carolina where she was born. She said: “The above is the house where I was born August 11, 1965. It is the birthplace of my story. Today on my 55th year of life… I own it… all of it.”
From a humble beginning, Davis rose to celebrity status and showed us all that anything is possible with hard work.
