A solidly-built actress-singer with vulnerable eyes and a kewpie-doll voice, Loretta Devine was a professional actor for about 18 years before rising to prominence through the 1995 feature film "Waiting to Exhale". As Gloria, the divorcee and overprotective mother whose loneliness is filled by Gregory Hines, she delivered a touching comic performance.The Houston-born performer began her career as a stage director in the early 1970s at the Black Arts Center. After earning an MFA at Brandeis University, Devine landed her first musical role in "Godsong" at the famed La MaMa Etc. company in NYC.
