Hello there, Alfunches!
This has proven to be an interesting and frustrating question to
research. There simply isn't a great amount of information online
about these three women. What little there is I have compiled for
you, and I can offer a suggestion or two about following up on this
information.
I will begin with Louise Stubbs, the oldest of the three. The Internet
Movie Database offers no biographical information whatsoever, although
we do see her working in film as late as 1983.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0835926/
The Internet Broadway Database offers a little more information.
Here, we see her working on Broadway until the spring of 1988.
Further, although there is no birthdate, we are told that she died
"circa 2001."
http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?id=73640
Stubbs appears to have had a rather interesting career. In this
biographical sketch of her contemporary Frank Silvera, Stubbs is
mentioned as one of a group of black actors (including Ossie Davis,
Ruby Dee, Harry Belafonte, and Sidney Poitier) who found it
increasingly possible to work in theatre in the 1950's.
http://www.fsww.org/whois.html
In the early 1960's, she was part of the cast of the groundbreaking
American production of Jean Genet's controversial play, "The Blacks."
This production would serve as a springboard for a new generation of
African-American performers including James Earl Jones and Maya
Angelou.
During 1965 and 1966, Stubbs was one of the few black actors to be
seen regularly on American TV, playing the role of Carol on the soap
opera "Guiding Light."
http://www.w3pg.com/cbs/gl/cast_past_s_t.html
In 1971, she was cast in the role of Mama Rose in the off-Broadway
stage production of "Black Girl," as were Edwards and Greene.
http://www.theatredb.com/QPerson.php?pid=p008004
The movie version, as you know, followed a year later.
Aside from the plays listed in the databases already cited, I was able
to locate one more reference to Stubbs' stage work. In 1973, she
played the role of Mrs. Skinner in a Phoenix production of Joyce Carol
Oates' "Miracle Play."
http://www.usfca.edu/fac-staff/southerr/theatre1.html
In the late 1980's, Stubbs returned to the soap opera genre as Minnie
Madden on "Loving," appearing on that show from 1988-1991 and again in
1994.
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-1209/
This is the latest reference I've been able to locate, regarding her acting career.
I did turn up a reference to Stubbs working as a private acting coach,
on the website of this actress:
http://www.shirleystewartfarmer.com/ACTORPAGE.htm
There is an e-mail link on the site, if you wished to contact her in
search of additional information.
Finally, my search turned up a co-author credit for Stubbs for the
drama "Freedom Man," a biopic of pioneering African-American scientist
Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806):
http://pcssdmedia.k12.ar.us:90/kids/1899,1901/search/aStubbs%2C+Louise./astubbs+louise/-5,-1,0,B/frameset&FF=astubbs+louise&1,1,
The information available online about Stubbs, sketchy though it is,
is lavish compared to the other two women. In the case of Gloria
Edwards, I can offer up her dates of birth and death, courtesy of
IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0250020/
According to the information here, she died of cancer at the age of
44. She worked almost until the end, appearing in a low-budget
thriller in 1988, the year of her death.
The Internet Broadway Database, and the Internet Theater Database,
show only three stage roles, including "Black Girl."
http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=104139
Edwards was the wife of actor Dick Anthony Williams, with whom she had
two children.
http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?id=90907
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0930454/
Williams is alive and well, and still working. He has had modest
roles in hit movies such as
"Edward Scissorhands" and "Mo' Better Blues," and guested twice as
Rev. Cook in the first season of the popular TV series "The Shield."
It is possible for you to establish contact with Mr. Williams, if you
are prepared to take a little time. On the page containing his IMDB
listing, click on the link marked "agent" on the right of the screen
(you may need to scroll down). This will bring up a page prompting
you to sign up for a free trial of IMDB Pro; after which you may
access the contact information for Mr. Williams' agent. There is no
guarantee that Williams will respond to any letter or e-mail you send,
but it's at least worth a try.
In the case of Loretta Greene, I have to concede that I'm stumped.
All I've been able to turn up are perfunctory listings on
IMDB;
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0338846/
IBDB;
http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=87240
and the ITDB:
http://www.theaterdb.com/QPerson.php?pid=p023139
Noting that the last of these spelled her name without the final "e" I
tried searching on that spelling as well, but with no success.
Although I find no more recent reference to her acting career than the
1976 film "Leadbelly," I note that her listing on IMDB does include
an active link for an agent. This at least gives us reason to suspect
that she's alive! Again, if you opt for the free trial of IMDB Pro,
you will have a mechanism for attempting to contact her through her
agent.
I hope this is of some help to you. It was an interesting quest, and
I've turned up a few biographical resources for African-Americans that
I was not previously aware of (though they were of no help here,
alas!).
Search strategy:
I was previously familiar with IMDB, and any search I do for an actor
begins there. The two theater databases I've drawn on were previously
unfamiliar to me, but turned up in the course of my searches on
Google. I searched on the names
"Louise Stubbs"
"Gloria Edwards"
"Loretta Greene" OR "Loretta Green"
in conjunction with various keywords such as: actress, play, stage, black
Further information, such as the article on actor Frank Silvera, I
arrived at by following links from the sites that turned up on the
original searches.
Thank you again for an interesting evening's work!
-Chromedome |
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