Esther rolle biography actor

Actress

Found Success as Maid Florida Evans

Rebelled Against Cartoonish Stereotype

Moved into Filmwork

Sources

Esther Rolle is best remembered for her portrayal of the sympathetic but strict mother of three on the 1970s CBS sitcom Good Times, although she was by then a veteran Broadway actress.

Esther rolle biography actor

She left the show in 1977, citing contractual disputes, but Rolle later admitted that she was embarrassed and angered by the show’s decline into near-minstrel humor. Such outspokenness was her trademark since her childhood in the Deep South, and reflected a drive that led her into the performing arts in the first place.

Though Rolle became known largely for playing maids in a variety of television shows and movies, she imbued each character with a humanity which defied stereotypes. To the very end, she was a staunch supporter of black artistic endeavors and participated in projects with strong African American themes.

Rolle was born in 1920 in Pompano Be