REMEMBERING ESTHER ROLLE! (ΖΦΒ) Today, November 8th, we celebrate the life and times of Esther Rolle (November 8, 1920 – November 17, 1998); an African-American actress. She is best known for her role as Florida Evans on the CBS television sitcom Maude and its spin-off series Good Times. Affectionately known for the role of outspoken maid Florida Evans on the hit 70s sitcoms Maude and Good Times, African-American actress Esther Rolle proved to be as spirited and iron-willed off-camera as well. The gap-toothed, rather plumpish and plain-looking actress with the gravelly voice was born in Pompano Beach, Florida, the 10th child of 18 born to Caribbean farming immigrants. Her first important work came with the Negro Ensemble Company and over the years would earn a solid careworn reputation in such theater plays as The Blacks, Blues for Mister Charlie, The Amen Corner, A Raisin in the Sun and A Member of the Wedding. Ironically, her father insisted she promise him that she would never becoming a servant or maid in real life. She didnt, and yet Esther would have her biggest successes playing just those types of roles. She caught the eye of TV producer Norman Lear while performing on stage who cast her in the Maude supporting role in 1972. Audiences loved her so much as the feisty domestic who stood her ground, and then some, against her volatile and liberal-minded employer Maude Findley (Bea Arthur), that Esther earned her own spinoff series with 1974s Good Times. Compelled to fight racial stereotypes, she insisted before accepting the series that a strong father figure be central in the show (actor John Amos). And while she still played the role of a lower middle-class maid, the shows emphasis was to be on her home and family life, not her outside work. Still, Esther left the show for one season when she was unhappy about the negative role model perpetuated by Jimmie Walkers jive-talking J.J. character, but later returned after the producers assured her that more responsibility would be taken. In other assignments, she won an Emmy Award for the TV movie Summer of My German Soldier and gained further respect for her work in Maya Angelous I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1978) and for her film work in Driving Miss Daisy (1990) and Rosewood (1997). Two of her sisters, Estelle Evans and Rosanna Carter, were also character performers. Afflicted with diabetes, Esthers health failed in the 90s and toward the very end of her life she was on kidney dialysis. The actress, who was divorced and had no children, died a little more than a week after her 78th birthday on November 8, 1998.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 22:13:52 +0000