Maidie Norman

Maidie Norman was born Maidie Ruth Gamble on October 16, 1912 on a plantation in Villa Rica, Georgia, and was raised in Lima, Ohio. From a young age she showed a passion for drama, performing Shakespearean roles as a child, and she graduated from Central High School in 1930. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Bennett College in 1934 and a master’s degree in drama from Columbia University in 1937, where she also met her first husband, real‑estate broker McHenry Norman. After marrying in December 1937, she adopted his surname professionally. Norman’s early career began in radio, with appearances on The Jack Benny Program and Amos ’n’ Andy, and she later studied at the Actors’ Laboratory Theatre in Hollywood. Her stage debut came in 1949 as Honey in Deep Are the Roots at the Mayan Theater, and she made her film debut in 1947 with The Peanut Man.