Gloria Foster (November 15, 1933 â€" September 29, 2001) was an
American actress. She had acclaimed roles in plays In White America
and Having Our Say, winning three Obie Awards during her career.She
played the Oracle in The Matrix (1999) and The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
films, the latter film being her last. She played the role of the
mother of Yusef Bell in the mini series The Atlanta Child Murders
which aired in 1985.Foster was born on November 15, 1933, in Chicago,
Illinois. As a young child she was put into the custody of her
maternal grandparents. She never knew who her father was and she moved
to Janesville, Wisconsin after her mother was hospitalized for a
mental illness. She attended the University of Illinois at Chicago,
where she participated in plays, but did not focus on acting. She
decided to be a professional actor when her godmother introduced her
to the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. She became one of the few African
Americans at the Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of
Chicago (now at DePaul University). During her studying at the Goodman
School she also, "learned professional acting skills in the Court
Theater at the University of Chicago". One of her most influential
instructors was Bella Itkin, who cast Gloria in many classical
roles.Gloria Foster began acting on Broadway in 1963. Her first role
was Ruth in the show of A Raisin in the Sun. Her first professional
performance was In White America. Foster, "play[s] a 13-year-old
Arkansas girl who tries to enter her Little Rock school". She won an
Obie Award or Off-Broadway Theater Award. Instead having to audition
for roles, people started to make parts for her to be in.
American actress. She had acclaimed roles in plays In White America
and Having Our Say, winning three Obie Awards during her career.She
played the Oracle in The Matrix (1999) and The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
films, the latter film being her last. She played the role of the
mother of Yusef Bell in the mini series The Atlanta Child Murders
which aired in 1985.Foster was born on November 15, 1933, in Chicago,
Illinois. As a young child she was put into the custody of her
maternal grandparents. She never knew who her father was and she moved
to Janesville, Wisconsin after her mother was hospitalized for a
mental illness. She attended the University of Illinois at Chicago,
where she participated in plays, but did not focus on acting. She
decided to be a professional actor when her godmother introduced her
to the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. She became one of the few African
Americans at the Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of
Chicago (now at DePaul University). During her studying at the Goodman
School she also, "learned professional acting skills in the Court
Theater at the University of Chicago". One of her most influential
instructors was Bella Itkin, who cast Gloria in many classical
roles.Gloria Foster began acting on Broadway in 1963. Her first role
was Ruth in the show of A Raisin in the Sun. Her first professional
performance was In White America. Foster, "play[s] a 13-year-old
Arkansas girl who tries to enter her Little Rock school". She won an
Obie Award or Off-Broadway Theater Award. Instead having to audition
for roles, people started to make parts for her to be in.
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