Black Actresses Who Filmed Their Final Role Just Before Dying

Some performances gain extra significance because they were captured only shortly before an artist’s death. The women below left lasting work on screen—often completed mere weeks or months before they passed—reminding us how much of their talent endures through the projects they finished near the end.

Whitney Houston

Houston’s last on-screen performance was as Emma in ‘Sparkle’, a project she helped produce and filmed in late 2011 before her death on February 11, 2012. The film opened in August 2012 and is dedicated to her memory. Principal photography had wrapped months earlier, making the release a posthumous farewell to her acting career. The soundtrack also features “Celebrate,” the last song she recorded.

Aaliyah

Aaliyah completed her role as Akasha in ‘Queen of the Damned’ in 2001, the same year she died in a plane crash on August 25. The movie was released in 2002, with her already-filmed performance presented posthumously. She had also begun work on the ‘Matrix’ sequels, filming some material that was later recast after her death. Her final screen role stands as a showcase of her transition from music icon to leading actress.

Naya Rivera

Rivera recorded Selina Kyle/Catwoman for the two-part animated feature ‘Batman: The Long Halloween’ shortly before her accidental drowning in July 2020. Both parts were released in 2021 with her completed voice work. The project thus became her posthumous final film role. Announcements at the time confirmed she had finished the recordings.

Gloria Foster

Best known to film audiences as the Oracle, Foster finished her scenes for ‘The Matrix Reloaded’ during 2001, the year she died from diabetes-related complications. The sequel reached theaters in 2003 with her completed performance intact. Because she passed before the third film shot her material, the role was recast there. Her work in the second film became her final screen appearance.

Nichelle Nichols

Nichols filmed her final performance for ‘Renegades: Ominara’ in March 2021, more than a year before her death on July 30, 2022. Public production updates identified it as her farewell screen role. The project was positioned as a non-Trek, legally distinct sci-fi vehicle featuring Nichols in a central part. Her last days on set were widely documented as a capstone to a trailblazing career.

Carol Sutton

Sutton appeared in ‘Outer Banks’ season 2, with her episode airing in 2021 and dedicated to her memory after she died of COVID-19 complications in December 2020. She had also just appeared in ‘Lovecraft Country’ that same year. The ‘Outer Banks’ credit was filmed close to her passing, making it one of her final roles. The production acknowledged her with an on-screen tribute.

Sonya Eddy

Beloved for her long run on ‘General Hospital’, Eddy continued filming episodes up to shortly before her death on December 19, 2022. The series later aired a memorial episode, reflecting how recently she had been working. She also appears posthumously in the feature ‘Dicks: The Musical’, completed prior to release. Her last taped soap episodes underscored how close to the end she was still performing.

Denise Dowse

An actor and director, Dowse completed work on the biographical film ‘Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story’ in 2022; the movie premiered that year and streamed soon after. She died on August 13, 2022, following a meningitis-related coma. The project stands as her directing debut and final screen involvement, finished shortly before her passing. Coverage at the time noted its festival bow earlier that spring.

Hattie McDaniel

McDaniel took over the title role on TV’s ‘Beulah’ in 1951, but illness forced her to step away in 1952, the same year she died of breast cancer. The episodes she completed aired around the time her health declined, marking her last screen work. Her departure led to replacements on the series as she underwent treatment. Those final installments function as her on-screen goodbye.

Eartha Kitt

In her later years, Kitt continued acting and voice acting right up to 2008, the year she died of colon cancer. Among her last completed projects were voice performances recorded before her passing, with some material airing posthumously. Her final screen work included late-career appearances that were released after 2008. These credits were prepared shortly before her death and issued in the following months.

Share the names and performances you think belong on this list in the comments so we can keep the conversation—and the remembrance—going.