Overview
After graduating from Columbia University with a degree in drama, Maidie Norman honed her craft at the Actors’ Laboratory Theatre, an integrated acting school in Hollywood. Though she played maids for most of her film career, she worked to give these characters dignity, even revising the dialogue when she could. Beginning in the 1960s, she shifted to working primarily in television, where she felt Black actors had more opportunities, and also taught courses on African American theater at Stanford and UCLA.
About the Filmography
The selected filmography for the years 1897–1971 includes works featured in the exhibition and others that are considered historically, socially, or politically relevant. Hollywood productions are generally excluded; the focus is instead on independent films, particularly the work of Black filmmakers. Black Academy Award nominees and winners are noted. This filmography was compiled using the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and various filmographies, including those by Klotman, Richards, and Hyatt. Primary production materials and contemporaneous film reviews were also consulted. Complete credits for many of the films are unavailable. All films are US productions unless otherwise noted, and distribution credits refer to the original distributors.