Beaumont native Irma P. Hall, who took a special jury prize at Cannes for her role in “Ladykillers,” will be inducted into the Southeast Texas Filmmaker Hall of Fame as part of the Spindletop/Lamar University Film Festival, April 15 to 17.

"I am more than thrilled about the honor in Beaumont, more than any other because it is my home," she said in an online interview. "Beaumont is where my seeds were first planted. I started school there at Carrol Street Elementary."

Hall has worked with many well known actors including James Earl Jones, Robert Duvall, Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks. She appeared in films including “Bad Company,” “Patch Adams,” “Beloved,” “Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil,” “Babe,” “To Sir With Love,” “Mo Money” and “Rugrats Kwanza Special.”

In her elementary years Hall moved to Chicago, Illinois. She attended high school there, then graduated from Texas College in Tyler. She taught English and foreign languages in Dallas public schools for almost 30 years. During that time, she was also a reporter for the Dallas Express, and was the co-founder of The Dallas Minority Repertory Theatre, becoming an administrator, and eventually found herself performing in their plays as well.

In 1973, a producer asked Hall, then a 36-year-old teacher and mother of two, to audition for a role in his film, “Book of Numbers,” directed by Raymond St. Jacques. She got the part, but didn't give up her teaching career.

“I was born in the South End. I first twirled baton in Beaumont as a mascot for Charlton Pollard. I won my first talent show there singing Mari Elena,” Hall recalled. She reminisced about the beauty of Beaumont, its flowers and her family who worked at area refineries.

“I have always wanted to do something to make Beaumont proud of me. Beaumont is my first and deepest love,” she said.

In 1996, Hall won best supporting actress honors from Chicago film critics for her performance as the tough but lovable Aunt T. in “A Family Thing” starring Jones and Duvall. She earned a best supporting actress honor at the NCCAP Image Awards in 1988 for her work as Big Momma in the feature “Soul Food.” In 2001, she was nominated for a second Image Award when she reprised her role in the Showtime series “Soul Food,” based on the film.

In 2004, when she won a special jury prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival for her performance in “Ladykillers,” director Quintin Tarintino called her “a force of nature.” That year, she also appeared in “A Slipping Down Life,” starring Guy Pierce and Lili Taylor.

This year, Hall has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award for best actress for “Ladykillers,” as well as the Movie Guide Awards. She was presented as a Black History Maker by the DuSable Museum in Chicago, and March 11 will be inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame in Austin, where she will be introduced by Ethan and Joel Coen, the directors of “Ladykillers.”

For more information, call Chris Castillo at (409) 880-8490.