
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.
Acting (31 movies)

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1962

Halloween III: Season of the Witch
1982

The Well
1951

Executive Suite
1954

Written on the Wind
1956

Susan Slept Here
1954

Tarzan's Hidden Jungle
1955

Bright Road
1953

About Mrs. Leslie
1954

Forever Female
1953

The Lie
1973

Airport '77
1977

A Star Is Born
1976

Manhandled
1949

Sixteen
1972

Another Part of the Forest
1972

The Opposite Sex
1956

The Peanut Man
1947

Torch Song
1953

Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole
1972

Thornwell
1981

Secrets of a Mother and Daughter
1983

4 for Texas
1963

A Dream for Christmas
1973

Mad at the World
1955

Sty of the Blind Pig
1974

Movie Movie
1978

Man with the Gun
1955

Be Pretty and Shut Up!
1981

Delphine and Carole
2020

Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami
1988
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|