Gloria Foster was an American actress, most known for her stage performances portraying an array of African-American characters, including her acclaimed roles in plays In White America and Having Our Say, winning three Obie Awards during her career. In films, she was perhaps best known as The Oracle in The Matrix (1999) and The Matrix Reloaded (2003), the latter film being her last.
Foster died on September 29, 2001, in New York City of complications from diabetes before her role in The Matrix Revolutions was shot.