Farewell to Gina DeBose, mother who bravely raised an Oscar-winning star
It was to be a whirlwind weekend for Gina DeBose: a flurry of Hollywood parties and nonstop glamour, limousines and red-carpet walks with cameras flashing.
At 6 a.m. on Saturday, a car would arrive to carry her to the airport and fly her to Los Angeles, where she would attend an Oscar gala and sit front and center at the Academy Awards — all because her daughter Ariana, the child she ferried to dance lessons, the kid she coaxed into acting auditions, the beloved baby born for the stage, was the favorite to win gold for best supporting actress, star of “West Side Story.”
As a single mother, she was of course delighted, proud fit to bursting.
But as a social studies teacher at Wakefield Middle, she put excitement on hold. She had classes to teach that Friday, papers to grade and young minds to mold.
Hollywood could wait.
“A teacher’s job is never done,” she told The N&O in 2022, adding, “Whatever Ariana does, I’ll do. I hope I can stay awake that long.”
Oscar-winning singer, dancer and actress Ariana DeBose said goodbye to her “warrior queen” mother last week, announcing her death from ovarian cancer at 57.
“She was my favorite person, my biggest fan and toughest critic,” she wrote on Instagram. “My best friend. She was my date to every important moment in my professional personal life — and i wouldn’t have it any other way. it had always been the two of us for as long as i can remember. Through lean times, and there were many of those & green times. She fought like hell to give me a good life.”
‘Whoa! Where did that come from?’
DeBose once told the N&O her famous daughter “came out dancing,” and that they moved from Wilmington to the Triangle so Ariana could blossom in Raleigh’s arts scene.
Soon, she was dancing with CC & Co., traveling to shows and choreographing routines. When Ariana reached 10th grade, her mother suggested she try out for a small role in a countywide production of “Aida,” thinking her daughter would maybe wind up a background dancer.
“But no!” DeBose told the N&O. “She ended up with the lead. I was like, ‘Whoa! Where did that come from?”
So for years, DeBose juggled the Tony awards and meeting Steven Spielberg with managing a middle-school classroom and acting as faculty adviser to the student council.
On her Twitter account, you can see the mother of an Oscar winner setting up trunk or treat at Halloween, or setting up a tailgate party to raise money for cancer charities, or giving congratulations to the Wakefield drama department for its production of “High School Musical Jr.”
During Spirit Week, she posted, “Can’t wait to wear PJs on Monday!”
Before Wakefield’s last home soccer game, she wrote, “Don’t forget to wear your silly socks tomorrow and celebrate!”
“A staunch believer in the power of education for all, that a child is much more than a standardized test score, she was the heart of the Wakefield Middle School community,” her family wrote in her obituary.
‘Yours as much as it is mine’
Three years ago, in advance of the Oscars, DeBose fretted about trying on dresses, choosing shoes and the idea of the whole world watching her on camera, none of which came naturally to the soft-spoken teacher.
“Oh my gosh, I’m trying to keep that out of my mind,” she told The N&O. “I’ll try to be very stoic on camera.”
But then her daughter’s name rang out from the stage, and as the young star she raised strutted to the stage in her red dress, the first openly queer Afro-Latina to win an Oscar, all she could do was stand and offer her millionth hug.
“I’m gonna wrap this up and talk about my family,” the actress said near the end of her acceptance speech. “My mother, who is here tonight. Mama, I love you with my whole heart, and this is as much yours as it is mine.”
And there in the front row, just like always, mother blew a kiss.