Viola Davis in March in Beverly Hills
Photo: Rachel Murray / Getty ImagesOn her 55th birthday, US actress Viola Davis fulfilled an extraordinary wish: she bought the house in which she was born on August 11, 1965. The Oscar winner posted a photo of the building she purchased in the US state of South Carolina on Instagram. It is located on a site that used to be a slave plantation.
"This is the birthplace of my story," Davis wrote in the commentary on the picture. "Today, at the age of 55, I have it completely." She said goodbye with a blessing from the Cherokee indigenous people: "May you live long enough to know why you were born."
In a video interview with People magazine in 2016, Davis had already spoken out firmly about the history of the house where she was born and her poor childhood. Her grandfather had worked as a tenant on the Singleton Plantation in St. Matthews, South Carolina. However, she and her family left the house shortly after she was born.
"I've been visiting briefly now and then, but I wasn't aware of the building's history," said Davis. It was only when she read a report by a former plantation worker and slave from St. Matthews that "it was appalling" that she understood. Almost all of her uncles and cousins are farmers. "That was the only option they had."
In the poor one-room dwelling there was neither running water nor a bathroom. Nevertheless, their birth was celebrated hilariously: "My mother says all my aunts and uncles were in the house," recalls Davis. "Everyone was drinking and laughing and having fun." There were sardines, mustard, onions and tomato sandwiches. "I love this story. It's a great story to me."
Viola Davis was awarded the Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama Series in 2015 for her performance in the crime series "How to Get Away with Murder". Two years later, she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Fences".
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