What is Esther Rolle’s Net Worth?
Esther Rolle was an American actress who had a net worth of $1 million. Esther Rolle was best known for her role as Florida Evans on the television sitcom “Maude” and its spinoff “Good Times.” She also appeared in a number of films, including the 1978 television film “Summer of My German Soldier,” for which she won an Emmy Award. Rolle’s other credits included stage productions of “Don’t Play Us Cheap,” “Nevis Mountain Dew,” “Dame Lorraine,” and “A Raisin in the Sun.”
Early Life and Education
Esther Rolle was born on November 8, 1920 in Pompano Beach, Florida as the tenth of 18 children of Bahamian immigrants Elizabeth and Jonathan. As an adolescent, she attended Blanche Ely High School. After graduating, Rolle enrolled at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She then moved to New York City, where she attended Hunter College before transferring to the New School. Rolle transferred one more time, to Yale University.
Career Beginnings on Stage
Rolle began her career on stage as a member of the dance troupe Shogolo Oloba. In 1960, she became the director of the troupe. Rolle went on to make her New York stage debut in the play “The Blacks” in 1962. She appeared in many plays produced by Robert Hooks and the Negro Ensemble Company.
Television Career
Rolle had her first substantial television role from 1970 to 1971, as Sadie Gray on the soap opera “One Life to Live.” However, she had her breakout role in 1972 when she began playing housekeeper Florida Evans on the CBS sitcom “Maude.” Rolle played the character for the first two seasons of the show, and then reprised her role on the spinoff sitcom “Good Times,” which focused on the Evans family and their lives in a public housing project in Chicago. John Amos played her character’s husband, James. Rolle starred in the first four seasons of “Good Times” before quitting due to her dissatisfaction with the direction of the show. She subsequently returned for the sixth and final season, which concluded in 1979. For her work on “Good Times,” she earned a Golden Globe Award nomination. Toward the end of the show’s run, Rolle appeared in the television films “Summer of My German Soldier” and “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”; for the former, she won an Emmy Award. She also had a guest role on “The Incredible Hulk.”
In the 1980s, Rolle starred in the television film “See China and Die” and appeared in episodes of such series as “Flamingo Road,” “The Love Boat,” “Fantasy Island,” and “Finder of Lost Loves.” Early the next decade, she appeared in the television film “The Kid Who Loved Christmas” and had a main role on the short-lived NBC sitcom “Singer & Sons.” Rolle subsequently appeared in the 1993 Hallmark Hall of Fame television film adaptation of the novel “To Dance with the White Dog.” The year after that, she was in an episode of the miniseries “Scarlett.” In the latter half of the decade, Rolle appeared in episodes of “General Hospital,” “Touched by an Angel,” and “Poltergeist: The Legacy.”
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Film Career
Rolle had her first substantial film roles in 1973, in the musical comedy “Don’t Play Us Cheap” and the blaxploitation film “Cleopatra Jones.” She didn’t act much on the big screen over the ensuing years, with her next significant role coming in the 1987 film “P.K. and the Kid.” That same year, Rolle narrated Marlon Riggs’s video essay “Ethnic Notions.” Rolle went on to appear in “The Mighty Quinn” and “Driving Miss Daisy” in 1989. She subsequently acted in the 1993 drama “House of Cards.” In 1995, Rolle played Aunt Pauline in “How to Make an American Quilt,” and in 1996 she played Rita in “My Fellow Americans.” She gave one of her most acclaimed performances in 1997, as Aunt Sarah in John Singleton’s historical drama “Rosewood.” Rolle’s final two film credits were the 1998 drama “Down in the Delta” and the 2005 thriller “Train Ride,” which was released posthumously.
Other Work
Among her other notable work, Rolle appeared on stage in such productions as “Don’t Play Us Cheap,” “Nevis Mountain Dew,” “Dame Lorraine,” “A Raisin in the Sun,” and “Member of the Wedding.” She also released a music album in 1975 called “The Garden of My Mind.”
Personal Life and Death
In 1955, Rolle married Oscar Robinson. The pair divorced in 1975.
On November 17, 1998, Rolle passed away in Culver City, California from complications of diabetes. She was 78 years of age.
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