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Alaina Reed Hall, the kind-faced actress best known as Olivia on 'Sesame Street' who later starred on '227,' died Dec. 17 in Los Angeles after a lengthy battle with breast cancer, the Springfield News-Sun reported. She was 63.

Beginning in 1976 and running up until the late 1980s, Hall was known to millions of children as photographer Olivia on the PBS show. She told the News-Sun in 2004 it was "the best job I ever had."

In 1985, she was cast in the urban sitcom '227' as Rose, the go-to friend in the neighborhood. The cast also included the always-sassy Jackée Harry and ran for five seasons.


After '227' left the airwaves in 1990, Hall made several guest appearances in shows such as 'Blossom' before scoring a lead role on the short-lived sitcom 'Cleghorne!' in 1995.

Her film credits include 'Death Becomes Her' and 'Cruel Intentions.'

Hall was also a talented singer, having began her career on Broadway ('Hair,' 'Chicago') and released a single, 'Bad for My Head,' in 1972.