Edna Mae Harris
Also Known As: Edna M. Harris, Edna May Harris
Biography: Edna Mae Harris was one of the best-known Black actresses of the 1930s and 1940s. She starred in many all-black cast independently produced movies of the day. An attractive woman who had a soulful voice, personality and sex appeal, she could sing, dance and act. The personification of a Harlem performer, Edna found fame by playing in both stage and screen versions of The Green Pastures (1936) as Zeba. Audiences loved her, and she received glorious reviews, so it was no surprise when Hollywood asked her to repeat her role on screen to wide acclaim. Edna Mae was very much in demand starring in some of the top Black movies such as Spirit of Youth (1938), Paradise in Harlem (1939), Sunday Sinners (1940), The Notorious Elinor Lee (1940), and Tall, Tan, and Terrific (1946), showing her excellent acting skills in drama and comedy. Edna Mae Harris got to tell her story in her later years in the documentary, Midnight Ramble (1994), about independently produced Black films.
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: New York City, New York, USA
Birthday: September 29, 1910
Deathday: September 15, 1997
Adult: No
Gender: Female
Popularity:
Known For:
Paradise in Harlem
Overview: It is the story of a comedian Lem Anderson who dreams of playing in Shakespeare scenes but he is applied only role in Harlem Vaudeville. One day he is the witness of a crime and the mobster strongly advised him to leave the town...
Genres: Comedy Drama Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-01-01
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Spirit of Youth
Overview: The story of the rise of boxer Joe Thomas, which paralleled the life of Joe Louis.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-04-01
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Lying Lips
Overview: A nightclub singer refuses to "date" customers, so she's framed for the murder of her aunt.
Genres: Drama Music Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-01-02
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Fury
Overview: Joe, who owns a gas station along with his brothers and is about to marry Katherine, travels to the small town where she lives to visit her, but is wrongly mistaken for a wanted kidnapper and arrested.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1936-06-05
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The Green Pastures
Overview: God, heaven, and several Old Testament stories, including the Creation and Noah's Ark, are described supposedly using the perspective of rural, black Americans.
Genres: Drama Fantasy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1936-08-01
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Stolen Paradise
Overview: Robert Gordon, a sheltered 18-year-old youth reared in a Catholic school, believes he has a vocation for the priesthood. He is taken to live with his father in his palatial Florida home. There he falls in love with his step-sister, Patricia Morrow, ten years his senior. He runs away and joins the R.A.F. Shot down in battle, he is rescued and taken to a monastery where he renounces the world to study for the priesthood.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-12-16
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The Notorious Elinor Lee
Overview: Gangsters use a woman to get to a boxer and convince him to throw a big fight.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-01-01
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Stage Door Canteen
Overview: A young soldier on a pass in New York City visits the famed Stage Door Canteen, where famous stars of the theater and films appear and host a recreational center for servicemen during the war. The soldier meets a pretty young hostess and they enjoy the many entertainers and a growing romance
Genres: Comedy Music Romance War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1943-06-24
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Sunday Sinners
Overview: Reverend Jesse Hampton has a bone to pick with the management of Club Harlem, a wildly popular nightspot where drinking and dancing are the rule. No old-fashioned prude, the Reverend tries to see the positive side of the juke joint activities, knowing that the jitterbuggers are basically decent kids who just need to blow off a little steam. But the preacher sees red when the club opens on the Sabbath, threatening to turn the good townsfolk into Sunday sinners. An upcoming dance contest seems destined to become a showdown between the powers of light and darkness.
Genres: Music Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-02-01
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Bullets or Ballots
Overview: After Police Captain Dan McLaren becomes police commissioner, former detective Johnny Blake publicly punches him, convincing rackets boss Al Kruger that Blake is sincere in his effort to join the mob. "Bugs" Fenner, meanwhile, is certain that Blake is a police agent.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1936-06-06
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Private Number
Overview: Ellen Neal, a young and inexperienced maid, becomes romantically involved with her employers son which causes various complications. The head butler also has an infatuation for the young girl but his intentions are not that good.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1936-06-05
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Legs Ain't No Good
Overview: Musical short
Genres: Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-12-01
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