Maidie Norman

Maidie Norman was born Maidie Ruth Gamble on October 16, 1912, in Villa Rica, Georgia, to Louis and Lila Gamble. She received a B.A. from Bennett College in 1934 and a master's degree from Columbia University three years later. She also attended the Actors Lab in Hollywood from 1946 to 1949. Norman first appeared on film in The Peanut Man in 1947. Throughout the fifties-not a good time for film roles for black women-she appeared in a number of films, such as Bright Road with Dorothy Dandridge and Sidney Poitier and Torch Song, both in 1953; About Mrs. Leslie and Susan Slept Here in 1954; and 1956's Written on the Wind. These were often servant roles, with a special fifties blandness. Still, Norman was skillful and professional in her execution of them. In 1962, she got a chance to chew up the scenery with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? In 1968-69, Norman was an artist-in-residence at Stanford University and, throughout the seventies, she was lecturer, director, and acting teacher at UCLA. At the same time, Norman was highly visible on television, appearing in Mannix, Adam 12, Streets of San Francisco, Kung Fu, The Jeffersons, and others. She was also part of the cast of Roots: The Next Generation in 1979. Norman was a founding member of the American Negro Theater West; in 1977, she was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame; and an award in her name is presented each year for outstanding research by an undergraduate in Black Theater at UCLA. She died on May 6, 1998.

Known For: Acting

Born: Villa Rica, Georgia, USA, 1912-10-16

Died: 1998-05-02

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1947	The Peanut Man	Lucretia	0
2	1949	Manhandled	Christine, Bennet's Maid (uncredited)	51
3	1951	The Well	Martha Crawford	70
4	1953	Bright Road	Mrs. Hamilton - Tanya's Mother	63
5	1953	Torch Song	Anne	59
6	1953	Forever Female	Emma	67
7	1954	Executive Suite	Housekeeper	70
8	1954	Susan Slept Here	Georgette	62
9	1954	About Mrs. Leslie	Camilla	70
10	1955	Tarzan's Hidden Jungle	Suma	49
11	1955	Mad at the World	Miss Lovett	57
12	1955	Man with the Gun	Sarah (uncredited)	62
13	1956	Written on the Wind	Bertha	70
14	1956	The Opposite Sex	Violet (uncredited)	52
15	1962	What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?	Elvira Stitt	79
16	1963	4 for Texas	Burden's Maid	51
17	1972	Sixteen	Aunt Ada	38
18	1972	Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole	Nurse Ferguson	68
19	1972	Another Part of the Forest	Coralee	0
20	1973	The Lie	Janine	60
21	1973	Maurie	Mrs. Stokes	0
22	1973	A Dream for Christmas	Jennie Daley	60
23	1974	Sty of the Blind Pig	Weedy Warren	0
24	1976	A Star Is Born	Justice of the Peace (uncredited)	60
25	1977	Airport '77	Dorothy	56
26	1978	Movie Movie	Gussie ("Baxter's Beauties of 1933")	58
27	1981	Thornwell	Ruth Thornwell	60
28	1981	Be Pretty and Shut Up!	Self	63
29	1982	Halloween III: Season of the Witch	Nurse Agnes	52
30	1983	Secrets of a Mother and Daughter	Neddy	60
31	1988	Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami	Edna	60
32	2020	Delphine and Carole	Self (archive footage)	69

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1950	Lux Video Theatre	Flora	63
2	1950	Lux Video Theatre	Maid	63
3	1951	Dragnet		64
4	1951	Hallmark Hall of Fame	Lurie	86
5	1952	Four Star Playhouse	Coralee	63
6	1952	Cavalcade of America	Aunt Nellie	35
7	1953	Letter to Loretta	Flora	65
8	1953	Letter to Loretta	Josi	65
9	1955	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Eloise	77
10	1955	Matinee Theater		50
11	1959	The Twilight Zone	Maid (uncredited)	85
12	1961	Dr. Kildare	Mrs. Johnson	55
13	1961	Ben Casey		56
14	1964	The Man from U.N.C.L.E.	Mama Lou	72
15	1965	The F.B.I.	Caregiver	55
16	1966	CBS Playhouse		70
17	1967	Ironside		68
18	1967	Judd for the Defense		75
19	1967	Mannix		67
20	1968	Adam-12	Ethel May	70
21	1968	Adam-12	Mary Handlin	70
22	1971	Cannon		65
23	1971	Funny Face		50
24	1972	The Streets of San Francisco		69
25	1972	Kung Fu	Omar's Mother	77
26	1974	Good Times		80
27	1974	Rhoda		63
28	1974	Little House on the Prairie		79
29	1974	Harry O		46
30	1974	Kolchak: The Night Stalker	Librarian	76
31	1974	Police Woman		63
32	1975	Baretta		63
33	1975	The Jeffersons		73
34	1977	The Incredible Hulk	Mrs. Dennison	73
35	1979	Roots: The Next Generations	Sister Scrap Scott	75
36	1981	Simon & Simon		67
37	1982	Cagney & Lacey	Elevator Operator	69
38	1982	Hotel		68
39	1982	Matt Houston		62

Maidie Norman

Film

Television