Race Movies Profile:

Edna Mae Harris

Born in Harlem in 1914, Edna Mae Harris's first major acting role was that of Zeba in Warner Brothers' The Green Pastures (1936), a part she had played in the theatre before landing the job in Hollywood. After starring as the female lead opposite Clarence Muse in Spirit of Youth (1938), a bio-pic about boxer Joe Louis' rise to fame, Harris became a regular in Oscar Micheaux films, including Lying Lips (1939) and The Notorius Elinor Lee (1940). In addition to her film career, Edna Mae Harris also toured with Noble Sissle's Orchestra along with Lena Horne and Billy Banks in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

Edna Mae Harris in the opening scene of Lying Lips

Select Filmography (as actress):

The Green Pastures (1936)
Spirit of Youth (1938)
Paradise in Harlem (1939)
Lying Lips (1939)
Sunday Sinners (1940)
The Notorious Elinor Lee (1940)
Murder on Lenox Avenue (1941)
X Marks the Spot (1942)

Source:

Sampson, Henry T. Blacks in Black and White: A Source Book on Black Films. Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press Inc., 1995 [p. 527]