Thomas, Edna (1885–1974)

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Thomas, Edna (1885–1974)

African-American actress. Born Edna Lewis, Nov 1, 1885, in Lawrenceville, Virginia; died July 22, 1974, in New York, NY; m. Lloyd Thomas.

Stage and screen actress, made her name as part of the Harlem Renaissance; made stage debut in Turn to the Right with the Lafayette Players, a touring dramatic troupe (1920); in NY, appeared in Comedy of Errors (1923), Porgy (1927), Lulu Belle, Shuffle Along, Run, Little Chillun (1933) and Stevedore (1934); appeared as Lady Macbeth in the all-black cast of the Federal Theater Project production of Macbeth (1936–37), directed by Orson Welles; went on to perform again with Federal Theater Project in Androcles and the Lion with Dooley Wilson (1938); appeared on Broadway in Harriet with Helen Hayes (1944–45), in Strange Fruit (1945), and A Streetcar Named Desire (1946); also appeared in the film.

See also Women in World History.

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