Esther Rolle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Esther Elizabeth Rolle (November 8, 1920 – November 17, 1998) was a Bahamian American actress. Rolle is best known for her role as Florida Evans, on the CBS television sitcom Maude, for two seasons (1972–1974), and its spin-off series Good Times, for five seasons (1974–77, 1978–79), for which Rolle was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy in 1976. Rolle is best known for her television role as Florida Evans, the character she played on two 1970s sitcoms. The character was introduced as Maude Findlay's housekeeper on Maude, and was spun off in the show's second season into Good Times, a show about Florida's family. Rolle was nominated in 1975 for the Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy Golden Globe Award for her role in Good Times. Rolle was 19 years older than the actor (John Amos) who played her husband James Evans. The James Evans character was only added after Esther Rolle fought hard for a father figure and husband to be added to the show. Rolle had fought for the father character on the show, more relevant themes and scripts and was unhappy when the success of Jimmie Walker's character, J.J. Evans, took the show in a frivolous direction. John Amos agreed with Rolle about Walker's character and was fired from the show after the third season ended. Later on, in a stand-off with Good Times producer Norman Lear, Rolle also quit when her contract ended. Although the show continued without her for the fifth season, she returned for the show's final season. In 1979 she won an Emmy for her role in Summer of My German Soldier, a made-for-television movie. Among her guest star roles was one on The Incredible Hulk in an episode entitled "Behind the Wheel" where she played a taxicab business owner. In the 1990s, Rolle was a surprise guest on RuPaul's VH-1 talk show. Her Maude co-star Bea Arthur was the guest, and Rolle was brought out to surprise Arthur. The two had not seen each other in years, Arthur said, and embraced warmly. Rolle also appeared in a series of psychic hotline TV commercials in the 1990s. "Tell them Esther sent you," was her trademark line.

Known For: Acting

Born: Pompano Beach, Florida USA, 1920-11-08

Died: 1998-11-17

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1964	Nothing But a Man	Church Woman	74
2	1967	Up the Down Staircase	Teacher	70
3	1971	Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow!	Maid	60
4	1973	Don't Play Us Cheap	Miss Maybell	58
5	1973	Cleopatra Jones	Mrs. Johnson	58
6	1978	Summer of My German Soldier	Ruth	58
7	1979	I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings	Momma	42
8	1981	See China and Die	Momma Sykes	0
9	1982	The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet	Nurse	0
10	1986	Ethnic Notions	Narrator	71
11	1987	P.K. and the Kid	Mim	50
12	1989	A Raisin in the Sun	Lena 'Mama' Younger	80
13	1989	The Mighty Quinn	Ubu Pearl	61
14	1989	Driving Miss Daisy	Idella	72
15	1989	Age-Old Friends	Mrs. Baker	77
16	1990	The Kid Who Loved Christmas	Esther Clayton	66
17	1991	Cape Fear	Woman Watching Cady Get Out from Under the Car (uncredited)	73
18	1992	Color Adjustment	Self	69
19	1993	House of Cards	Adelle	62
20	1993	Message from Nam	Queenie / Elizabeth McQueen	51
21	1993	To Dance with the White Dog	Neelie	70
22	1995	Nobody's Girls: Five Women of the West	Clara Brown	0
23	1995	How to Make an American Quilt	Aunt Pauline	64
24	1996	My Fellow Americans	Rita	60
25	1997	Rosewood	Aunt Sarah	65
26	1998	Down in the Delta	Annie Sinclair	64
27	2005	Train Ride	Dean of Students	40

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1951	Hallmark Hall of Fame		86
2	1972	Maude	Florida Evans	68
3	1974	Good Times	Florida Evans	80
4	1976	Donny & Marie	Self	65
5	1977	The Incredible Hulk		73
6	1981	Flamingo Road		60
7	1982	The New Odd Couple	Ms. Gibbs	50
8	1984	Finder of Lost Loves	Nellie	57
9	1984	Murder, She Wrote	Margaret	75
10	1990	Singer and Sons		60
11	1994	Touched by an Angel	Mary Harding	72
12	1994	Scarlett		66
13	1996	Promised Land	Mary Harding	66

Esther Rolle

Film

Television