Cause of death Cancer Name Norma Donaldson Nationality American Role Actress | Occupation Actress, Singer Years active 1950–94 | |
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Full Name Norma Mae Donaldson Born July 8, 1928 ( 1928-07-08 ) Harlem, New York, U.S. Died November 22, 1994, Los Angeles, California, United States Movies Staying Alive, Willie Dynamite, Across 110th Street, The Unholy Similar People Samuel Wilkeson, George W Clinton, Philip Becker, Sylvester Stallone, Gilbert Moses | ||
Resting place Forest Lawn Cemetery | ||
Norma Mae Donaldson (July 8, 1928 – November 22, 1994) was an American actress and singer. Perhaps she is best known for her roles, as Miss Adelaide in the 1976 revival of Guys and Dolls; Lillie Belle Barber on the CBS television soap opera The Young and the Restless, in which she played from 1990 until her death in 1994.
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Life and career
Born in Harlem, Donaldson launched her career as a nightclub singer and then toured with Harry Belafonte and Lena Horne. In 1971, Donaldson began appearing in some Blaxploitation films such as 1972's Across 110th Street and 1974's Willie Dynamite. In 1975, she began acting on Broadway and was most famous for portraying the loveless chorine Miss Adelaide, opposite Robert Guillaume, in an all-black revival of Frank Loesser's Guys and Dolls in 1976. She and Guillaume were again paired in Purlie and No Place to be Somebody. Prior to her lengthy recurring role on "The Young and the Restless", she had played Dr. Paulina Ravelle on General Hospital on a recurring basis from 1987-1989, who strived to prevent her daughter, Simone, from marrying the white Dr. Tom Hardy. Donaldson died of cancer at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles on November 22, 1994 at 66 years old. She was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York.