This Is Why Althea Was Written off 'In the Heat of the Night'
What took place to Althea on 'In the Heat of the Night'? Actress Anne-Marie Johnson explained why she left the collection forward of its ultimate season.
In the overdue ‘80s and early ‘90s, no TV drama packed a punch like In the Heat of the Night — and no persona went via extra hardships than Althea Tibbs.
Throughout the course of the collection, the guidance counselor (played by way of actress Anne-Marie Johnson) was held captive by means of a murderer, terrorized via an ex-boyfriend, raped by a fellow instructor, and witnessed the suicide of a pupil. But why did she bail sooner than the final season and subsequent TV movies?
What came about to Althea on 'In the Heat of the Night'?
Anne-Marie made up our minds to go away the show at the end of Season 6 in an effort to take a role on Fox’s sketch comedy collection In Living Color. She adopted up that one-year stint with a guest-starring arc on Melrose Place.
When asked about her exit in a 2013 interview with In the Heat of the Night's fan club, Anne-Marie said, "The timing was right and I was fortunate to move on to other respected projects."
She also shared, "I knew Howard [Rollins, who played her on-screen husband Virgil Tibbs] was moving on and storylines were being created for other characters. It’s the natural progression of a TV series. I had a great run and I wanted to leave before Althea was phased out."
In truth, Howard was written off the display in 1993 because of ongoing felony issues that integrated three arrests for using below the influence and a cocaine ownership price. He did end up returning for 3 episodes in Season 7.
It was published at the starting of the police procedural’s final season that Althea and Virgil have been getting a divorce. She moved to Philadelphia with their kids to be closer to her oldsters and he was finishing a law stage in Jackson, Miss., which explained why they have been no longer in Sparta.
Anne-Marie Johnson mentioned she could not have asked for a better TV husband.
Howard will have been fighting a few demons off-camera, but Anne-Marie has best great things to mention about her late co-star, who kicked the bucket in 1996 at the age of 46.
"We’d never met each other before our first scene," the California local recalled. "I’ll never forget that day. It was hot and humid." The duo had no choice however to leap in with each feet out of doors of a church in Hammond, La.
"I walked up to Howard, introduced myself, we hugged, he teased me… and that was that. We were married," Anne-Marie fondly remembered. "Our chemistry was just that; simple, organic chemistry. We really loved working together."
The JAG alum known as Howard "a dynamic talent" and explained that the pair trusted one some other to get through long workdays. "We spent more time laughing and kidding each other all those years than anything else," she confessed.
"We had such heavy scenes to do every week, we had to lighten the atmosphere... not only for ourselves, but for our crew."
Anne-Marie still seems on TV frequently, and has had roles in displays comparable to How to Get Away with Murder, NCIS: Los Angeles, House of Payne, and Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later.
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