Happy Heavenly Birthday To Esther Rolle!! 🥳🎉 She would have turned 101 today!! The late-great Esther Rolle was born into a family that initially came to the U.S. from the Caribbean. Esther Rolle was born on Nov 8, 1920 in #PompanoBeach, #Florida. Her mother gave birth to 18 children, 3 of whom went on to become actresses. Esther Rolle was the 10th of 18 children. Rolle initially studied at the #SpelmanCollege in #Atlanta, however, she soon moved to the #HunterCollege in #NewYork City, where she worked various jobs at the #NewYorkCity Garment district to support her college education. Rolle was also a member of the highly prestigious #ZetaPhiBeta sorority. While working a traditional job in the garment district in #NYC, Rolle rekindled her passion for theater and the arts. She followed in her mother’s footsteps as a performer in the #NegroEnsembleCompany. That turned out to be the launchpad into Rolle’s on-stage success as, over the years, she had important roles in such theater plays. Her most significant of all Rolle’s accomplishments, back when “#Maude” and “#GoodTimes” were hit shows, was her insistence that people of color who worked with her and around her be treated with the same dignity and respect. When #NormanLear approached Esther with the script for the show, she refused to take the job unless they included a paternal figure in the series who would be Florida’s husband and the father of her children. After “Good Times”, Rolle mostly acted for direct to television movies. She acted for Bruce Beresford’s “#DrivingMissDaisy” in 1989. She also acted for #JohnSingleton’s “#Rosewood” in 1997. All in all, she acted for 15 stage plays from 1965 to 1989, and 22 separate television roles from 1964 to 1998. Rolle also released a music album in 1975 which was titled “#TheGardenofMyMind”. Diagnosed with diabetes, Rolle’s health failed in the 1990s and toward the end of her life she was on kidney dialysis. The actress, who was divorced and had no children, passed on Nov. 17, 1998. She is buried in Westview Cemetery in #Pompano Beach. #InLovingMemory #EstherRolle 👉🏾 Kindly FOLLOW Our Mother Page @wonderwombman ✨✨ https://www.instagram.com/p/CWBFn0Ml1zL/?utm_medium=tumblr
