Norma Millay (1894May 14, 1986) was an American singer and actress, and sister of the poet and playwright

Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyric poetry, lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted Feminism, feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. ...

. Born in

Rockland, Maine Rockland is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Maine, United States. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the town population was 6,936. The city is a popular tourist destination. It is a departure point for the Maine S ...

to Cora Lounella Buzelle and Henry Tolman Millay, Norma Millay was one of three sisters who were all, due to their parents' divorce, brought up by their mother. Having been a writer of poetry herself, Cora Millay ensured the presence of art and music in the Millay household, which became a vital part of the upbringing of the three sisters. Norma Millay would go on to perform with the

Provincetown Players The Provincetown Players was a collective of artists, people and writers, intellectuals, and amateur theater enthusiasts. Under the leadership of the husband and wife team of George Cram “Jig” Cook and Susan Glaspell from Iowa, the Players p ...

and appear 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 ...

. She married painter and actor Charles Ellis, but did not use his surname. At the time of her sister Edna St. Vincent Millay's death in 1950, Norma Millay was left as the sole heir to her estate, leaving her to inherit

Steepletop Steepletop, also known as the Edna St. Vincent Millay House, was the farmhouse home of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and her husband Eugen Jan Boissevain, in Austerlitz, New York, United States. Her former home and garden ...

, a 650-acre farm in

Austerlitz, New York Austerlitz is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 1,625 at the 2020 census.US Census Bureau, 2020 Census Report, Austerlitz, Columbia County, New York https://www.census.gov/search-results.html?searchType=web&cs ...

, where the poet had spent the last twenty-five years of her life, as well as rights to all of her creative and intellectual property. In 1973, Norma Millay created the

Millay Colony for the Arts Millay Arts, formerly the Millay Colony for the Arts, is an arts community offering residency-retreats and workshops in Austerlitz, New York, and free arts programs in local public schools. Housed on the former property of feminist/activist poet ...

, right next to Steepletop, as a center for burgeoning artists, offering residency and workshops for them to refine their craft. After attempting to write a biography of her sister Edna on her own, Norma contacted the biographer

Nancy Milford Nancy Lee Milford (née Winston; March 26, 1938March 29, 2022) was an American biographer. She was noted for her biographies on Zelda Fitzgerald and Edna St. Vincent Millay. Early life and education Nancy Lee Winston was born in Dearborn, Mi ...

to write one in her stead. (book review) She would not live to see the 2001 publication of Milford's biography ''Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Norma Millay 1894 births 1986 deaths People from Rockland, Maine American stage actresses 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers