Maternal Instincts: Our Favorite Movie Mamas

A look back at the best mother-figures on the big screen.

Whitney Houston, Sparkle - Nothing like going through the assortment of tough, long-suffering and sometimes downright mamas in our favorite films to make us appreciate our own down-to-earth moms on Mother's Day.   In her final big screen performance, Whitney was a strict stage mother to aspiring singers in this upcoming Motown-era drama.  Whitney Houston channeled her own mom Cissy for inspiration. (Photo: Courtesy Sony Pictures)

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Whitney Houston, Sparkle - Nothing like going through the assortment of tough, long-suffering and sometimes downright mamas in our favorite films to make us appreciate our own down-to-earth moms on Mother's Day. In her final big screen performance, Whitney was a strict stage mother to aspiring singers in this upcoming Motown-era drama.  Whitney Houston channeled her own mom Cissy for inspiration. (Photo: Courtesy Sony Pictures)

Photo By Courtesy Sony Pictures

Oprah Winfrey, The Women of Brewster Place - Winfrey's character Mattie Michael was the collective den mother to all the women of Brewster Place. Between the hardships she faced raising her own son and her struggles with her parents, Mattie's advice often came from a place of experience, and represented the best of what African-American women could be: supportive, wise and strong. (Photo: Courtesy Harpo Productions)

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Oprah Winfrey, The Women of Brewster Place - Winfrey's character Mattie Michael was the collective den mother to all the women of Brewster Place. Between the hardships she faced raising her own son and her struggles with her parents, Mattie's advice often came from a place of experience, and represented the best of what African-American women could be: supportive, wise and strong. (Photo: Courtesy Harpo Productions)

Irma P. Hall, Soul Food - When it came to giving advice to her three wildly different daughters, one size didn't fit all for Mama Joe. But her Sunday dinners held her Chicago family together like cheese to macaroni. The central figure in this classic family dramedy even inspired a hit single, Boyz II Men's "A Song for Mama."(Photo: Courtesy 20th Century Fox)

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Irma P. Hall, Soul Food - When it came to giving advice to her three wildly different daughters, one size didn't fit all for Mama Joe. But her Sunday dinners held her Chicago family together like cheese to macaroni. The central figure in this classic family dramedy even inspired a hit single, Boyz II Men's "A Song for Mama."(Photo: Courtesy 20th Century Fox)

Juanita Moore, Imitation of Life - Annie Johnson (Moore) raised two daughters in this 1959 film, one white, and one who wanted to be white. Her biological child Sarah Jane's (Susan Kohner) struggle with self-identity made her lash out, and only when the long-suffering Annie was dead did Sarah realize the value of keeping it real. (Photo: Courtesy Universal Pictures)

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Juanita Moore, Imitation of Life - Annie Johnson (Moore) raised two daughters in this 1959 film, one white, and one who wanted to be white. Her biological child Sarah Jane's (Susan Kohner) struggle with self-identity made her lash out, and only when the long-suffering Annie was dead did Sarah realize the value of keeping it real. (Photo: Courtesy Universal Pictures)

Alfre Woodard, Something New and Love & Basketball - The only thing Woodard's characters had in common in these two films was her daughter, played both times by Sanaa Lathan. In Something New, Woodard portrayed Lathan's pushy mother who disapproves of her taste in men, while in Love & Basketball, she disapproves of her life choice to play basketball rather than become a perfect wife and mother. (Photo: Courtesy Gramercy Pictures)

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Alfre Woodard, Something New and Love & Basketball - The only thing Woodard's characters had in common in these two films was her daughter, played both times by Sanaa Lathan. In Something New, Woodard portrayed Lathan's pushy mother who disapproves of her taste in men, while in Love & Basketball, she disapproves of her life choice to play basketball rather than become a perfect wife and mother. (Photo: Courtesy Gramercy Pictures)

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Cicely Tyson, Diary of a Mad Black Woman - In this small-but-meaningful role, Tyson gives her daughter Helen (played by Kimberly Elise) some advice that we memorized for a rainy day: "When somebody hurts you, they take power over you. If you don't forgive them, then they keeps the power. Forgive him baby, and after you forgive him, forgive yourself."(Photo: Courtesy Lionsgate Films)

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Cicely Tyson, Diary of a Mad Black Woman - In this small-but-meaningful role, Tyson gives her daughter Helen (played by Kimberly Elise) some advice that we memorized for a rainy day: "When somebody hurts you, they take power over you. If you don't forgive them, then they keeps the power. Forgive him baby, and after you forgive him, forgive yourself."(Photo: Courtesy Lionsgate Films)

Photo By Photo: Lionsgate

Lynn Whitfield, Madea's Family Reunion - Of all the questionable decisions women have made in Tyler Perry films, the one that gives us the biggest case of side-eye is Whitfield's out-of-touch mother whose actions--she let one daughter be sexually abused by her father and the other be physically abused by her fiancé--frequently made us cringe. (Photo: Courtesy Lionsgate Films)

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Lynn Whitfield, Madea's Family Reunion - Of all the questionable decisions women have made in Tyler Perry films, the one that gives us the biggest case of side-eye is Whitfield's out-of-touch mother whose actions--she let one daughter be sexually abused by her father and the other be physically abused by her fiancé--frequently made us cringe. (Photo: Courtesy Lionsgate Films)

Lynn Whitfield, Eve's Bayou - Whitfield's performance as a mother who makes excuses for her philandering husband to her daughters is the title character in Kasi Lemmon's memorable directorial debut. The Batiste family drama proved that money can't buy a happy home.(Photo: Courtesy TriMark Pictures)

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Lynn Whitfield, Eve's Bayou - Whitfield's performance as a mother who makes excuses for her philandering husband to her daughters is the title character in Kasi Lemmon's memorable directorial debut. The Batiste family drama proved that money can't buy a happy home.(Photo: Courtesy TriMark Pictures)

Photo By Photo: Courtesy TriMark Pictures

Jenifer Lewis, What's Love Got to Do With It and Think Like a Man - In 1993, Lewis played a mother who abandoned her kids in the award-winning Tina Turner biopic.  Nearly twenty years later, in Think Like a Man, she plays the mother who keeps her grown son on a short leash. She may be the type of movie mom that drives her kids into therapy, but we can't get enough of her.(Photo: Courtesy Screen Gems)

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Jenifer Lewis, What's Love Got to Do With It and Think Like a Man - In 1993, Lewis played a mother who abandoned her kids in the award-winning Tina Turner biopic.  Nearly twenty years later, in Think Like a Man, she plays the mother who keeps her grown son on a short leash. She may be the type of movie mom that drives her kids into therapy, but we can't get enough of her.(Photo: Courtesy Screen Gems)

Diana Ross, Double Platinum - Superstar singer Olivia King (Ross) wins lots of Grammys, but no Mother of the Year awards in this cult drama. After ditching her infant daughter Kayla to pursue her singing career, Olivia gets called out by a grown up Kayla (played by Brandy) years later when she tries to make amends. As aspiring singer Kayla learns, beating your absent mother at her own game is the best way to get her to notice you.(Photo: Courtesy Columbia TriStar)

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Diana Ross, Double Platinum - Superstar singer Olivia King (Ross) wins lots of Grammys, but no Mother of the Year awards in this cult drama. After ditching her infant daughter Kayla to pursue her singing career, Olivia gets called out by a grown up Kayla (played by Brandy) years later when she tries to make amends. As aspiring singer Kayla learns, beating your absent mother at her own game is the best way to get her to notice you.(Photo: Courtesy Columbia TriStar)

Photo By Photo: Courtesy Columbia TriStar

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Angela Bassett, Malcolm X - As if being married to a revolutionary wasn't hard enough, Betty Shabazz (Bassett) had to deal with raising six children as a single mother after her husband was assassinated. Malcolm X is as much Betty's story as it is Malcolm's, thanks to the fact that the real-life Mrs. X was an advisor on the project. (Photo: Courtesy 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks)

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Angela Bassett, Malcolm X - As if being married to a revolutionary wasn't hard enough, Betty Shabazz (Bassett) had to deal with raising six children as a single mother after her husband was assassinated. Malcolm X is as much Betty's story as it is Malcolm's, thanks to the fact that the real-life Mrs. X was an advisor on the project. (Photo: Courtesy 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks)

Diahann Carroll, Claudine - As a single Black mother raising six kids in Harlem, finding a man wasn't easy for Carroll's character Claudine Price. While her kids rule the roost when it comes to her heart--and they didn't make it easy for poor James Earl Jones--Claudine wasn't afraid to lay the smack down when one of them stepped out of line.(Photo: Courtesy 20th Century Fox)

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Diahann Carroll, Claudine - As a single Black mother raising six kids in Harlem, finding a man wasn't easy for Carroll's character Claudine Price. While her kids rule the roost when it comes to her heart--and they didn't make it easy for poor James Earl Jones--Claudine wasn't afraid to lay the smack down when one of them stepped out of line.(Photo: Courtesy 20th Century Fox)

Claudia McNeil, A Raisin in the Sun - We can understand aspiring doctor Beneatha's (Diana Sands) determination to forge her independence and crawl out from under mother's (McNeil) strict Christian upbringing in this adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry's classic play.  However, we did cheer a little when McNeil put her in her place after Beneatha crossed the line from outspoken to disrespectful and clearly needed "her fresh little jaw slapped."(Photo: Courtesy Columbia Pictures)

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Claudia McNeil, A Raisin in the Sun - We can understand aspiring doctor Beneatha's (Diana Sands) determination to forge her independence and crawl out from under mother's (McNeil) strict Christian upbringing in this adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry's classic play.  However, we did cheer a little when McNeil put her in her place after Beneatha crossed the line from outspoken to disrespectful and clearly needed "her fresh little jaw slapped."(Photo: Courtesy Columbia Pictures)

Esther Rolle, Rosewood - Just because she embodies the "mammy" archetype doesn't mean Rosewood's caretaker of white families (including the one who instigated the riot that the film centers on), didn't have depth. Aunt Sarah's famous line, "N***** is just another word for guilty," is the most memorable of the film.  (Photo: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures)

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Esther Rolle, Rosewood - Just because she embodies the "mammy" archetype doesn't mean Rosewood's caretaker of white families (including the one who instigated the riot that the film centers on), didn't have depth. Aunt Sarah's famous line, "N***** is just another word for guilty," is the most memorable of the film. (Photo: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures)

Whoopi Goldberg, The Long Walk Home - Before The Help's candy-coated the issues of civil rights in the South, this gripping drama gave us a gritty and honest portrayal of the social unrest that crept into a small Alabama town. Goldberg plays a maid, Odessa, who not only puts food on the table for her impressionable young daughter, but sets an example for justice that we know will change the girl's life forever.  (Photo: Courtesy New Visions Pictures)

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Whoopi Goldberg, The Long Walk Home - Before The Help's candy-coated the issues of civil rights in the South, this gripping drama gave us a gritty and honest portrayal of the social unrest that crept into a small Alabama town. Goldberg plays a maid, Odessa, who not only puts food on the table for her impressionable young daughter, but sets an example for justice that we know will change the girl's life forever. (Photo: Courtesy New Visions Pictures)