In November 2019 Taye’s mother passed away after a short battle with cancer. That was enormous stress for the actor, who lost not just his parent, but also his mentor and his inspiration. She was a woman, who gave him expert advice and motivated him.
Marcia Ann Berry was born in Newark, New Jersey. She worked as an actress and later became a teacher for many young actors. Marcia liked dancing, music, and theatre.
Her professional activity didn’t prevent her from raising five kids. She welcomed Taye with her then-partner, Andre Young. After their split, she met another man – Jeffries Diggs.
Diggs adopted Taye and gave him his surname. Previously to this, Taye wore his mother’s surname “Berry”.
Marcia had four other kids with her husband, Diggs, the actor’s half-siblings. She was so closely knitted with her son, who later became a Hollywood star.
She helped Taye to develop his talent for acting – she transferred the boy to Rochester’s School of the Arts, where he studied music, Afro-Caribbean dance and other kinds of performing arts.