Early life and education Cash was the second of four children born in
Atlantic City, New Jersey, to John O. Cash Sr., a clerk, and Martha Elizabeth Cash. Her siblings were John Jr., Robert, and Helen. Cash graduated with honors from
Atlantic City High School in 1956. After high school, Cash attended
City College of New York. Her career extended to theater, television, film, and recording.
Career Cash appeared in the 1962 revival of
Fiorello! and was an original member of the
Negro Ensemble Company, founded in 1968. In 1973, Cash played the role of
Goneril in
King Lear at the
New York Shakespeare Festival alongside
James Earl Jones's Lear. Cash appeared on the New York-area television show
Callback!, which featured musical director
Barry Manilow. The episode on which Cash was featured was filmed on March 31, 1969, at the Village Gate in New York City. The episode aired on Saturday, April 19, 1969 at 3:30 pm on CBS. Cash performed "God Bless the Child" on the show. No recordings of the performance are known to exist. Her other television credits include
The Cosby Show, ''
What's Happening!!, A Different World, Good Times, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Frank's Place, Kojak, Barney Miller, Benson, Roc, Police Woman, Family Ties, Head of the Class, The Golden Girls, and L.A. Law''. Cash was nominated for an
Emmy Award for her work on the
Public Broadcasting Service production of
Go Tell It on the Mountain. In 1996, she was posthumously nominated for an
Emmy Award,
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, for her role on
General Hospital. Cash's films included
Omega Man (1971),
Klute (1971),
The New Centurions (1972) with
George C. Scott and
Stacy Keach,
Uptown Saturday Night (1974) with
Bill Cosby and
Sidney Poitier, and
Wrong Is Right (1982). In 1995, she appeared in
Tales from the Hood, her last film appearance. Cash supplied the voices of
Sesame Street Muppet Roosevelt Franklin's mother and his sister, Mary Frances, on the 1970 record album ''The Year of Roosevelt Franklin, Gordon's Friend from Sesame Street'' alongside
Matt Robinson's voices for Roosevelt and his brother, Baby Ray, and friend, A.B. Cito. ==Personal life and death==