Esther Rolle
Biography
Esther Rolle was an American actress who moved from dance and the New York stage into screen work and became best known for television. Born in Pompano Beach, Florida, she was part of Asadata Dafora's dance troupe and became its director in 1960. Her New York stage debut came in the 1962 play The Blacks, and she also appeared in The Crucible, Blues for Mr. Charlie, and Don't Play Us Cheap on Broadway. On television she played Florida Evans on Maude and its spin-off Good Times, a part that earned her a Golden Globe nomination in 1975, and in 1979 she won an Emmy for the television movie Summer of My German Soldier. Her films included Nothing But a Man (1964), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), The Mighty Quinn (1989), Rosewood (1997), and Down in the Delta (1998). She died in 1998.
78years old at death
- Born Pompano Beach
- Died Culver City
- Star sign: ScorpioThe sign runs October 23 to November 21
- Also credited as Esther Elizabeth Rolle
Movie Career
- Films
- 13
- Career span
- 34 years1964 to 1998
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A change of course
In 1960 Rolle took over as director of the dance troupe Shogolo Oloba, which had been founded by Asadata Dafora and was later called the Federal Theater African Dance Troupe.
First role
Rolle first appeared on the New York stage in the 1962 play The Blacks. Robert Hooks and the Negro Ensemble Company produced many of the plays in which she was later cast.
Beyond film
In 1977, at Manhattan's Henry Street New Federal Theater, Rolle took the part of Lady Macbeth in Orson Welles' version of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, which drew on Haitian influences.
Behind the award
Rolle was the first woman to receive the NAACP Chairman's Civil Rights Leadership Award, which she earned in 1990 from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Esther Rolle movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Seven actors appear in two of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Dan Aykroyd's page
Alfre Woodard's page
Art Evans's page
Jessica Tandy's page
Paul Benjamin's page
Michael Warren's page
Also two films together1 more actor
- Bob HannahTo Dance with the White Dog (1993) and Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.
Awards
One award and honor, one of them major.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emmy Awards | |||
| 1979 | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie | Summer of My German Soldier | Won |
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.