← Back
Maidie Norman

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Birthdate

1912-10-16

Day of Death

1998-05-02

Place of Birth

Villa Rica, Georgia, USA

Maidie Norman

Biography

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.

Filmography (33)

⭐ 6.5 Role: Self (archive footage)

Delphine and Carole

2020
⭐ 7.0 Role: Edna

Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami

1988
⭐ 7.0 Role: Neddy

Secrets of a Mother and Daughter

1983
⭐ 5.2 Role: Nurse Agnes

Halloween III: Season of the Witch

1982
⭐ 6.1 Role: Self

Be Pretty and Shut Up!

1981
⭐ 7.3 Role: Ruth Thornwell

Thornwell

1981
⭐ 6.0 Role: Gussie ("Baxter's Beauties of 1933")

Movie Movie

1978
⭐ 5.6 Role: Dorothy

Airport '77

1977
⭐ 6.0 Role: Justice of the Peace (uncredited)

A Star Is Born

1976
⭐ 10.0 Role: Weedy Warren

Sty of the Blind Pig

1974
⭐ 7.3 Role: Jennie Daley

A Dream for Christmas

1973
No Image
⭐ 7.0 Role: Mrs. Stokes

Maurie

1973
⭐ 6.0 Role: Janine

The Lie

1973
⭐ 10.0 Role: Coralee

Another Part of the Forest

1972
⭐ 7.1 Role: Nurse Ferguson

Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole

1972