Cast & creator

Maidie Norman

1912-10-16 (died at 85) Villa Rica, Georgia, USAIMDb

Best known for Adam-12, Adam-12, Mannix

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.

Also known as: Mady Norman, Madie Norman, Maidie Ruth Norman

Movies

film credits

Series

television credits

Career

1947–2020 · acting roles

Credit score

6.7

average across scored titles

Signature credits

Known for

Ordered by popularity

★ 7.1

Adam-12

Ethel May · 1968

★ 7.1

Adam-12

Mary Handlin · 1968

★ 6.9

Mannix

Acting · 1967

★ 8.0

Little House on the Prairie

Mrs. Henry · 1974

★ 6.8

Ironside

Acting · 1967

Across film & television

Filmography (72)

Showing 72 of 72 credits

Maidie Norman

Known for

Adam-12

Adam-12

Mannix

Little House on the Prairie

Ironside

Filmography (72)

Adam-12

Adam-12

Mannix

Little House on the Prairie

Ironside

Matinee Theater

Cannon

Four Star Playhouse

Dr. Kildare

The Twilight Zone

Dragnet

Simon & Simon

Hotel

Cagney & Lacey

The F.B.I.

Ben Casey

The Incredible Hulk

Police Woman

The Streets of San Francisco

The Jeffersons

Rhoda

Baretta

Matt Houston

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Harry O

Judd, for the Defense

Good Times

Kolchak: The Night Stalker

Lux Video Theatre

Lux Video Theatre

Cavalcade of America

Roots: The Next Generations

CBS Playhouse

Letter to Loretta

Letter to Loretta

Halloween III: Season of the Witch

Hallmark Hall of Fame

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Funny Face

A Star Is Born

Written on the Wind

Airport '77

4 for Texas

Executive Suite

Man with the Gun

Movie Movie

Susan Slept Here

Be Pretty and Shut Up!

Delphine and Carole

Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole

Secrets of a Mother and Daughter

The Opposite Sex

Kung Fu

Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami

Mad at the World

About Mrs. Leslie

Torch Song

Tarzan's Hidden Jungle

A Dream for Christmas

Another Part of the Forest

The Lie

Forever Female

No Greater Love

The Well

Sixteen

Manhandled

Sty of the Blind Pig

Thornwell

Maurie

Bright Road

The Peanut Man