thumb|275px|On [[Good Times (1974), L-R: Ralph Carter, Bern Nadette Stanis, Jimmie Walker, Esther Rolle, and John Amos]]
Esther Elizabeth Rolle (November 8, 1920 – November 17, 1998) was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Florida Evans, on the CBS television sitcom Maude, for two seasons (1972–1974), and its spin-off series Good Times, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy in 1976. In 1979, Rolle became the first Black actress to win the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Special for the television film Summer of My German Soldier.
Early life and education
Esther Rolle was born on November 8, 1920, in Pompano Beach, Florida, to Bahamian immigrants Jonathan Rolle (1883–1953), a farmer, and Elizabeth Iris Rolle (née Dames; 1887–1947). Her parents were both born and raised in the Bahamas. Her father moved to Florida to work for the railway; the family followed Rolle was the tenth of 18 children. Her older sisters are fellow actresses Estelle Evans and Rosanna Carter.
Rolle attended Booker T. Washington High School in Miami, but transferred to Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach from which she graduated.
Career
For many years, Rolle worked in a traditional day job in New York City's garment district.
Dance and theater
Rolle was a member of Asadata Dafora's dance troupe, Shogolo Oloba She was often cast in plays produced by Robert Hooks and the Negro Ensemble Company. In 1977, Rolle portrayed Lady Macbeth in Orson Welles' Haitian-influenced version of William Shakespeare's Macbeth at the Henry Street New Federal Theater in Manhattan.
Television
Rolle is best known for her television role as Florida Evans, the character she played on two 1970s sitcoms.
Music and film
Rolle released an album of music titled The Garden of My Mind in 1975. Rolle's first screen appearance is a small, uncredited role in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), and she later appeared in Gordon Parks' The Learning Tree (1969). Her sister, actress Estelle Evans, appeared in both films as well.
She is buried in Westview Community Cemetery in Pompano Beach. The cemetery is a historically black burial ground created in 1952, a time when the laws and customs of Florida did not permit white people and black people to be buried in the same cemetery.
Legacy
Collection of Esther Rolle's personal works
Rolle's family donated over 100 items of hers to the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The collection includes gowns, a black Raggedy Andy doll she endorsed, a recording of poems recited by Rolle, and awards such as the 1974 NAACP Eighth Image Award for Best Actress in a Series and her 1979 Emmy for her role in Summer of My German Soldier. There is a street named after Esther Rolle in her hometown of Pompano Beach, Florida.
Filmography/television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Note
|-
| 1964
| Nothing But a Man
| Church woman
|
|-
| 1967
| Up the Down Staircase
| Teacher
| Uncredited
|-
| 1970–1971
| One Life to Live
| Sadie Gray
| Unknown episodes
|-
| 1971
| Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow!
|
|
|-
| 1971
| The Bold Ones: The Senator
| Black Woman
| Episode: "A Single Blow of a Sword"
|-
| 1972–1974
| Maude
| Florida Evans
| 45 episodes
|-
| 1973
| Cleopatra Jones
| Mrs. Johnson
|
|-
| 1973
| Don't Play Us Cheap
| Miss Maybell
|
|-
| 1974–1979
| Good Times
| Florida Evans
| 109 episodes<br />Nominated–Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy
|-
| 1978
| Summer of My German Soldier
| Ruth
| TV movie<br />Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
|-
| 1979
| I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
| Momma
| TV movie
|-
| 1979
| The Incredible Hulk
| Colleen Jensen
| Episode: "Behind the Wheel"
|-
| 1981
| Darkroom
| Grandmother / Old Woman
| Episode: "Needlepoint"
|-
| 1981
| See China and Die
| Momma Sykes
| TV movie
|-
| 1982
| Flamingo Road
| Julia
| 3 episodes
|-
| 1983
| The Love Boat
| Judge Kramer
| Episode: "I Like To Be In America"
|-
| 1983
| Fantasy Island
| Mama
| Episode: "Edward/The Extraordinary Miss Jones"
|-
| 1984
| Finder of Lost Loves
| Nellie
| Episode: "Goodbye, Sara"
|-
| 1985
| Murder, She Wrote
| Margaret
| Episode: "Reflections of the Mind"
|-
| 1986
| Ethnic Notions
| Narrator
| Documentary about the history of racial stereotypes
|-
| 1987
| P.K. and the Kid
| Mim
|
|-
| 1989
| American Playhouse
| Lena Younger
| Episode: "A Raisin in the Sun"
|-
| 1989
| The Mighty Quinn
| Ubu Pearl
|
|-
| 1989
| Driving Miss Daisy
| Idella
|
|-
| 1990
| The Kid Who Loved Christmas
| Mrs. Clayton, Adoption Agency Director
| TV movie
|-
| 1990
| Singer & Sons
| Sarah Patterson
| 4 episodes
|-
| 1993
| House of Cards
| Adelle
|
|-
| 1993
| To Dance with the White Dog
| Neelie
| TV movie
|-
| 1994
| Scarlett
| Mammy
| 1 episode
|-
| 1995
| How to Make an American Quilt
| Aunt Pauline
|
|-
| 1996
| My Fellow Americans
| Rita
|
|-
| 1996
| General Hospital
| Mourner
| Unknown episodes
|-
| 1997
| Rosewood
| Aunt Sarah
| Nominated–Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
|-
| 1997
| Touched by an Angel
| Mary Harding
| Episode: "Amazing Grace: Part 1"
|-
| 1998
| Poltergeist: The Legacy
| Grandma Rose
| Episode: "La Belle Dame Sans Merci"
|-
| 1998
| Down in the Delta
| Annie Sinclair
|
|-
| 2000
| Train Ride
| Dean of Students
| Released posthumously, (final film role)
|}
Stage work
- Day of Absence (1965)
- Happy Ending (1965)
- The Amen Corner (1965)
- Man Better Man (1969)
- Akokawe (1970)
- Ride a Black Horse (1971)
- The Dream on Monkey Mountain (1971)
- Rosalee Pritchett (1971)
- Don't Play Us Cheap (1972)
- A Ballet Behind the Bridge (1972)
- Horowitz and Mrs. Washington (1980)
- Nevis Mountain Dew (1980)
- Dame Lorraine (1981)
- A Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet (1982)
- A Raisin in the Sun (1989)
- Member of the Wedding (1989)
References
Notes
Bibliography
External links
- Esther Rolle Collection, African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, Broward County Library