Norma C. Donaldson (August 18, 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 The following is a list of notable characters from the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'' that do not have their own pages but significantly impacted storylines and debuted between January 1990 and December 1999. Lillie Belle Barber ...

on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

television

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...

'', in which she played from 1990 until she died in 1994.

Biography

Early life

Donaldson was born Norma C. Donaldson in the

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

section of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Her parents were Laura, a housekeeper, and Fredrick Donaldson (b. 1906; d. 1955). The first of two children, Donaldson attended

Boys and Girls High School Boys and Girls High School, the oldest public high school in Brooklyn, is a comprehensive high school in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York (state), New York, United States. The school is located at 1700 Fulton Street (Brooklyn), Fulton ...

(known at the time as Girls' High School), studying there until her junior year.

Career

In 1949, Donaldson, then aged 21, launched her career as a

nightclub singer A nightclub act is a production, usually of nightclub music or comedy, designed for performance at a nightclub, a type of drinking establishment, by a nightclub performer such as a nightclub singer or nightclub dancer, whose performance may ...

, booking gigs throughout New York City. During her nightclub stint, Donaldson began touring with

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

and later

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the C ...

. Donaldson started her acting career in the late–1960s, first appearing in an episode of ''Callback!'' which aired on March 8, 1969, in which

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow ( ; born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer with a career that spans over sixty years. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Brandy (Scott ...

was the music director of this show. In the 1970s, Donaldson began appearing in some

Blaxploitation In American cinema, Blaxploitation is the film subgenre of action movie derived from the exploitation film genre in the early 1970s, consequent to the combined cultural momentum of the black civil rights movement, the black power movement, ...

films. Most notably of the genre, Donaldson portrayed Gloria Roberts in 1972's ''

Across 110th Street ''Across 110th Street'' is a 1972 American neo noir action thriller film directed by Barry Shear and starring Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Franciosa and Paul Benjamin. The film is set in Harlem, New York and takes its name from 11 ...

'' and Honey in 1973's '' Willie Dynamite''. In 1975, Donaldson began her acting career on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

and was most famous for portraying the loveless chorus line dancer Miss Adelaide, opposite

Robert Guillaume Robert Guillaume (born Robert Peter Williams; November 30, 1927 – October 24, 2017) was an American actor and singer. He played Fishbone on television series " Good Times", Benson DuBois in the ABC television series ''Soap'' and its spin-o ...

, in an all-black revival of

Frank Loesser Frank Henry Loesser ( "lesser"; June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals ''Guys and Dolls (musical), Guys and Dolls'' and ''How to Succeed in Business ...

's ''Guys and Dolls'' which premiered in 1976. Donaldson co-starred alongside Guillaume again in ''

Purlie ''Purlie'' is a musical with a book by Ossie Davis, Philip Rose, and Peter Udell, lyrics by Udell and music by Gary Geld. It is based on Davis's 1961 play '' Purlie Victorious''. Plot ''Purlie'' is set in an era when Jim Crow laws still we ...

'' and '' No Place to be Somebody''. Before her lengthy recurring role on "The Young and the Restless," she had played Dr. Paulina Ravelle on ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

'' regularly from 1987 to 1989, who strove to prevent her daughter, Simone, from marrying the white Dr. Tom Hardy.

Personal life and death

Donaldson never married or had children. Donaldson died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

Cedars Sinai Hospital Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital has a staff of over 2,00 ...

in Los Angeles, California, on November 22, 1994, at 66 years old. She was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theater

References

External links

* 1928 births 1994 deaths American soap opera actresses Actresses from Manhattan 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American singers Nightclub performers 20th-century American women singers People from Harlem Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery A {{US-tv-actor-1920s-stub