Edna Lewis Thomas

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Edna Lewis Thomas
A woman wearing a crown and a white dress sits on a throne
Thomas as Lady Macbeth, 1936
Born
Edna Lewis

(1885-11-01)November 1, 1885
Lawrenceville, Virginia, U.S.
DiedJuly 22, 1974(1974-07-22) (aged 88)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1920–1956
EraHarlem Renaissance
EmployerFederal Theater Project
Known forPortraying Lady Macbeth in "Voodoo" Macbeth
Spouse(s)Lloyd Thomas (m. c. 1914)
PartnerOlivia Wyndham (1930–after 1942)

Edna Lewis Thomas (November 1, 1885 – July 22, 1974) was an American stage actress whose career began in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance. She appeared on Broadway, with the Lafayette Players theater company, and in productions by the Federal Theater Project of the Works Progress Administration. Her portrayal of Lady Macbeth in Orson Welles' all-Black "Voodoo" Macbeth in 1936 was much acclaimed. She was an influential figure in Black theater, and was a member of the Alhambra Players and the Harlem Experimental Theatre. She only appeared on screen once, in the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire.

Thomas was born in Virginia and raised in Boston. After moving to New York around 1916, she worked as a social secretary for the beauty entrepreneur Madam C. J. Walker. Though she was married to Lloyd Thomas, she started a long-term romantic relationship with British socialite Olivia Wyndham around 1930 and the three lived together for many years in a Harlem co-op.

Early life[edit]

Edna Lewis was born on November 1, 1885, in Lawrenceville, Virginia.[1] Author Saidiya Hartman, in Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, wrote that Lewis's father was a white man who raped her Black mother in his household when she was a 12-year-old nursemaid.[2] Edna grew up in Boston where she attended public schools.[3]

She married around 1914 and moved with her husband to New York City, possibly in 1916. She worked as a social secretary for the Black beauty entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker and through her was introduced to a variety of people in Harlem and Greenwich Village.[2] In New York she became an influential figure in Black theater during the Harlem Renaissance.[4]

Stage career[edit]

Thomas was a prolific actress in all-Black vaudeville productions and theaters. She acted and sang in numerous productions at the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem, making her stage debut with the Lafayette Players in the 1920 play Turn to the Right. She was then cast in the plays Confidence (1920), The Heartbreaker (1921),[5] and Comedy of Errors (1923). She had her Broadway debut in 1925[6] and had a role in the 1927 play Porgy.[4]

Thomas as Lady Macbeth, April 1936

Thomas joined the Alhambra Players in 1928, performing at The Harlem Alhambra and was in a 1929 revival of Porgy staged at the Martin Beck Theater. She joined the Harlem Experimental Theatre in 1930, acting in the premier public performance at the New York Public Library's 135th Street Branch. She remained active in theater in the 1930s, having roles in the musical Lulu Belle at the Belasco Theater and in the musical Shuffle Along. She also had lead roles in the all-Black 1933 folk opera Run, Little Chillun at the Lyric Theatre and Paul Peters' 1934 production Stevedore.[4][2]

In 1936, Thomas was cast in the role of Lady Macbeth in an all-Black production of Macbeth at Lafayette Theater. The so-called "Voodoo" Macbeth was directed by Orson Welles and was a production of the Federal Theater Project of the Works Progress Administration.[7] Rose McClendon was originally cast for her part, but Thomas took the role after McClendon became critically ill.[8] Thomas's performance garnered positive reviews, with one reviewer calling her portrayal "sensitive and magnificent"[4] and the Harlem press naming her the "First Lady of Negro Theatre".[2]

Thomas appeared alongside Dooley Wilson in the 1938 Federal Theater Project production of Androcles and the Lion, where she had the role of Lavinia. She played Sukey in Harriet, Elia Kazan's 1943 Broadway play about Harriet Beecher Stowe. In 1944 she was cast in José Ferrer's production Strange Fruit, which was adapted from the novel of the same name by Lillian Smith.[4][1]

Thomas in A Streetcar Named Desire, 1948

Thomas portrayed a Mexican woman in the Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire in 1946. She reprised the role on stage in 1950 and again in the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire. It was her only film credit.[4] Following another reprisal of the play A Streetcar Named Desire in 1956, Thomas retired from acting. She spent the rest of her life in New York.[4]

Personal life[edit]

Edna married talent manager Lloyd Carter Thomas around 1914.[1] He later managed Madam C. J. Walker's Harlem salon and was a co-owner of Club Ebony.[9] Thomas supported her husband financially during the Great Depression.[1] The couple frequented parties at the Dark Tower, a cultural salon at the home of A'Lelia Walker.[2]

Around 1930, Thomas began a romantic relationship with the British photographer and socialite Olivia Wyndham. They lived together, along with Thomas's husband, at a large Harlem co-op until at least 1942. In 1937, she and Wyndham participated pseudonymously in a Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic study of "100 socially well-adjusted men and women whose preferred form of libidinous gratification is homosexual".[2] Thomas was also friends with the Harlem Renaissance photographer and patron Carl Van Vechten, corresponding with him regularly.[4]

Thomas died on July 22, 1974, of heart disease at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City. She was 88.[4] The New York Public Library holds photographs of Thomas in its Edna Thomas Collection.[10]

Theater productions[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1920 Turn to the Right
1920 Confidence
1921 The Heartbreaker
1923 Comedy of Errors
1925 The Dreamy Kid / The Emperor Jones Irene / Spectator
1926–1927 Lulu Belle Valma Custer
1927 Porgy Clara Thomas also appeared in a 1929 production of Porgy.[6]
1932 Ol' Man Satan Maggie
1933 Run, Little Chillun Ella
1934 Stevedore Ruby Oxley Thomas was in productions from April to July and from October to November of that year.[6]
1936 Macbeth Lady Macbeth This production had an all-Black cast and was nicknamed Voodoo Macbeth.
1938–1939 Androcles and the Lion Lavinia
1944 Harriet Sukey Following the original run in March and April, Thomas reprised her role in a second run from September to October.[6]
1945–1946 Strange Fruit Mamie McIntosh
1947–1949 A Streetcar Named Desire Mexican Woman Thomas reprised the role in revivals in 1950 and 1956.[6]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Van Straten, Frank (June 6, 2020). "The Two Thomas Trap". Theatre Heritage Australia. Archived from the original on May 26, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Davis, Amanda (May 2021). "Edna Thomas, Lloyd Thomas & Olivia Wyndham Residence". NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  3. ^ Wintz, Cary D.; Finkelman, Paul (2012). Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-45536-1.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i York, Laura (2002). "Thomas, Edna (1886–1974)". In Commire, Anne (ed.). Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Waterford, Connecticut: Yorkin Publications. ISBN 0-7876-4074-3. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  5. ^ Peterson, Bernard L. (1990). Early Black American Playwrights and Dramatic Writers: A Biographical Directory and Catalog of Plays, Films, and Broadcasting Scripts. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 199. ISBN 978-0-313-26621-8.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Edna Thomas – Broadway Cast & Staff". Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  7. ^ S. R. (October 7, 1936). "Voodoo 'Macbeth' Opens at Majestic; Here Two Weeks". Times Union. Brooklyn, New York. p. 4.
  8. ^ Leaming, Barbara (1985). Orson Welles, A Biography. New York: Viking Press. pp. 101–102. ISBN 978-0-618-15446-3.
  9. ^ Mitchell, Verner D. (2010). "To One Not There: The Letters of Dorothy West and Countee Cullen, 1926-1945". The Langston Hughes Review. 24: 113. ISSN 0737-0555. JSTOR 26434689. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  10. ^ "Edna Thomas collection". ArchiveGrid. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.

Further reading[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edna Thomas (actress).
  • Gill, Glenda E. White Grease Paint on Black Performers: A Study of the Federal Theater, 1935–1939. NY: P. Lang, 1988.
  • Smith, Jessie Carney, ed. Notable Black American Women. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1992.
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