Actress Esther Rolle was born on November 8, 1922, in Pompano Beach, Florida. A stage, film and television actress, Ms. Rolle is best remembered as Florida Evans, a sharp but caring housekeeper — a character she played on two comedy series: Maude and Good Times.
Her first important work came with the Negro Ensemble Company and over the years would earn a solid reputation in such theater plays as “The Blacks,” “Blues for Mister Charlie,” “The Amen Corner,” “A Raisin in the Sun” and “A Member of the Wedding.”
Ms. Rolle caught the eye of TV producer Norman Lear while performing on stage. Lear cast her in the “Maude” supporting role in 1972. Audiences loved her so much as the sharp housekeeper who stood her ground, and then some, against her volatile employer Maude Findley (Bea Arthur), that Esther earned her own spinoff series with 1974’s “Good Times.”
Compelled to fight racial stereotypes, she insisted before accepting the series that a strong father figure be central in the show (actor John Amos). Ms. Rolle fought for more relevant themes and scripts, and was unhappy that the success of Jimmie Walker’s character J.J. Evans took the show in what she thought was a frivolous direction.
As a result, John Amos left the show after the third season ended. Later on, in a stand-off with Good Times producer Norman Lear, Ms. Rolle also quit when her contract concluded. Although the series continued without her for the fifth season, she returned for the show’s final season.
In other projects, she won an Emmy Award for the TV movie “Summer of My German Soldier” and gained further respect for her work in Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” (1978) and for her film work in Driving Miss Daisy (1990) and Rosewood (1997).