Maidie Norman

Norman began her career in radio with appearances on The Jack Benny Program and Amos 'n' Andy. In 1946, she began studying at the Actors' Laboratory Theatre in Hollywood. She made her stage debut in 1949, as Honey in Deep Are the Roots at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles.[4]

In 1947, Norman made her film debut in The Peanut Man. She initially found it difficult to portray positive roles in films for African-American women and felt limited in playing maids and domestics. While she did appear in such roles, Norman refused to portray these characters in a subservient or stereotypical manner that was considered the norm.[1] She later said, "In the beginning, I made a pledge that I would play no role that deprived black women of their dignity."[5]

Norman appeared in her only leading role in 1951, playing Martha Crawford in The Well.[6] She later appeared in supporting roles in Torch Song (1953), Bright Road (1953), Susan Slept Here (1954), The Opposite Sex (1956), and Written on the Wind (1956). One of her most memorable roles was as the ill-fated housekeeper Elvira Stitt in Robert Aldrich's 1962 horror film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, opposite Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. In a 1995 interview, Norman recalled that the character was originally written as a "doltish, yessum character". She rescripted the dialogue, which she called "old slavery-time talk", in an effort to dignify the character.[6]

During the 1960s and for the remainder of her career, Norman appeared mainly in television roles, as she believed more opportunities existed for African-American performers in the medium.[7] Her TV credits include appearances in The Loretta Young Show, Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Ben Casey, and Dr. Kildare. In 1961, she appeared in the Los Angeles production of A Raisin in the Sun.[8]

In the 1970s and 1980s, Norman guest-starred on episodes of Good Times, The Jeffersons, Little House on the Prairie, and The Streets of San Francisco. Her last film role was in Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami (1988), and that same year, she made her last three television appearances in the American sitcom Amen, the television film Side by Side, and an episode of Simon & Simon.

At the height of her career during the 1950s, Norman toured colleges lecturing on African-American literature and theater. From 1955 to 1956, she taught at the University of Texas at Tyler. Norman was also an artist-in-residence at Stanford University from 1968 to 1969.[1] In 1970, she created and taught a course in African-American theater history at UCLA. It was the first course devoted to the subject of African-American studies in the college's history. Norman taught at UCLA until 1977. UCLA established the Maidie Norman Research Award for the best student essay on African-American film or theater in her honor.[9]