Edna Mae Harris
Edna Mae Harris (September 29, 1914 – September 15, 1997), sometimes credited as Edna May Harris, was an American actress and singer. She was African American and acted in films with mostly Black casts in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
She was born in Harlem, New York City. Her father, Sam Harris, was a boxer and customs inspector; her mother, Mary Harris, worked as a maid. Her family was among the first to settle in Harlem. Encouraged by Ethel Waters and Maud Russell, she began performing in show business. She trained in singing and dancing and performed on the TOBA circuit from 1929 to 1933.
Harris attended Wadleigh High School in Manhattan. After her sophomore year, the Alhambra Theater hired her. She started her acting career with The Green Pastures (1936), then was a leading lady in Spirit of Youth (1938), which told a story similar to the life of boxer Joe Louis. She also had leading roles in Oscar Micheaux’s Lying Lips (1939) and The Notorious Elinor Lee (1940), and appeared in Paradise in Harlem (1939). She acted in Run, Little Chillun and sang with Noble Sissle’s Orchestra.
In 1994 she shared her story in the documentary Midnight Ramble about independently produced Black films. Harris was married twice and had no children: first to Edward Randolph (1933–1938) and then to Walter Anderson (1951–1983). She dated boxer Joe Louis around 1939–1940 and Robert Paquin (1941–1942). She died of a heart attack in New York City on September 15, 1997, at age 82.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 02:18 (CET).