Academy Award–winning actor Ariana DeBose said her mother, Gina Michelle DeBose, died at 10:28 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 17, from complications related to stage-3 ovarian cancer. She was 57 and had battled the disease for three years, DeBose wrote in a statement posted Tuesday. Gina DeBose spent almost three decades teaching middle-school social studies and was described by her daughter as a "warrior queen," revered by colleagues and students for her creativity and advocacy of arts education. The family asked for privacy and said details of a public celebration of her life and information on memorial donations will be shared in the coming weeks. Ariana DeBose, who won the 2022 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “West Side Story,” credited her mother as her "biggest fan and toughest critic," adding that the award "is just as much hers as it is mine."