Gloria Foster - Death

Death

Gloria Foster died on September 29, 2001 at age 67. The cause of her death was diabetes. Though she was no longer married, her ex-husband, Clarence Williams III, was the one to announce her death. A memorial was held at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn on October 15, 2001. Many of her close friends and also actors and actresses that had performed with her came to attend the funeral. Judith Rutherford James, a well-known producer and also good friend who worked with Gloria Foster on In White America and Having Our Say was a huge part in the memorial service and helped to oversee that it ran smoothly. Many of the speeches given at the service, showed and spoke about how Gloria Foster not only played her part, but also embodied the character, both emotionally and also physically. Duberman, the author of In White America, told the audience that, “she embodied it. At the end of the scene each night, there were tears streaming down her face, her body was trembling, but her dignity was intact”… “Foster had to be covered with blankets in order to calm her shaking”. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She is interred in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.