Maidie Norman
Acting
1912-10-16 · Villa Rica, Georgia, USA
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
Delphine and Carole
2020 · Movie
Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami
1988 · Movie
Secrets of a Mother and Daughter
1983 · Movie
Halloween III: Season of the Witch
1982 · Movie
Matt Houston
1982 · Series
Hotel
1982 · Series
Cagney & Lacey
1982 · Series
Simon & Simon
1981 · Series
Be Pretty and Shut Up!
1981 · Movie
Thornwell
1981 · Movie
Roots: The Next Generations
1979 · Series
Movie Movie
1978 · Movie
The Incredible Hulk
1977 · Series
Airport '77
1977 · Movie
A Star Is Born
1976 · Movie
The Jeffersons
1975 · Series
Baretta
1975 · Series
Police Woman
1974 · Series
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
1974 · Series
Harry O
1974 · Series
Little House on the Prairie
1974 · Series
Rhoda
1974 · Series
Sty of the Blind Pig
1974 · Movie
Good Times
1974 · Series
A Dream for Christmas
1973 · Movie
Maurie
1973 · Movie
The Lie
1973 · Movie
Kung Fu
1972 · Series
Another Part of the Forest
1972 · Movie
Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole
1972 · Movie
The Streets of San Francisco
1972 · Series
Sixteen
1972 · Movie
Funny Face
1971 · Series
Cannon
1971 · Series
Adam-12
1968 · Series
Mannix
1967 · Series
Judd, for the Defense
1967 · Series
Ironside
1967 · Series
CBS Playhouse
1966 · Series
The F.B.I.
1965 · Series
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1964 · Series
4 for Texas
1963 · Movie
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1962 · Movie
Ben Casey
1961 · Series
Dr. Kildare
1961 · Series
No Greater Love
1960 · Movie
The Twilight Zone
1959 · Series
The Opposite Sex
1956 · Movie
Written on the Wind
1956 · Movie
Matinee Theater
1955 · Series
Man with the Gun
1955 · Movie
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955 · Series
Mad at the World
1955 · Movie
Tarzan's Hidden Jungle
1955 · Movie
About Mrs. Leslie
1954 · Movie
Susan Slept Here
1954 · Movie
Executive Suite
1954 · Movie
Forever Female
1953 · Movie
Torch Song
1953 · Movie
Letter to Loretta
1953 · Series
Bright Road
1953 · Movie
Cavalcade of America
1952 · Series
Four Star Playhouse
1952 · Series
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951 · Series
Dragnet
1951 · Series
The Well
1951 · Movie
Lux Video Theatre
1950 · Series
Manhandled
1949 · Movie
The Peanut Man
1947 · Movie