On the set of the CBS anthology TV series Studio One's presentation of George Orwell's "1984". L-R: scenic designer Kim Swados, Norma Crane, Eddie Albert, and director Paul Nickell
Norma Crane (born Norma Anna Bella Zuckerman; November 10, 1928 — September 28, 1973) was an American actress of stage, film, and television best known for her role as Golde in the 1971 film adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof, a role which earned her a nomination for a Photoplay Award. She also starred in They Call Me Mister Tibbs! and Penelope. Crane was born in New York City, but raised in El Paso, Texas.
Early years
Crane was born Norma Anna Bella Zuckerman to a Jewish family in New York City and raised in El Paso. When she was 12 years old, she moved there to live with her father, Sam Zuckerman. She was named for three aunts, all of whom died in gas chambers during the Holocaust. She grew up learning about Eastern Europe's Jews and their heritage.
Throughout the 1950s, she appeared on a variety of live television dramas, first gaining recognition in a televised adaptation of George Orwell's 1984. She played Ellie Martin in Vincente Minnelli's film version of Tea and Sympathy. She appeared in the 1956 Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "There Was an Old Woman" the 1958 episode "The Equalizer" and the 1959 episode “Appointment at Eleven”. Also in 1959, she portrayed “Tilda” on the TV Western Gunsmoke.
In 1960, Crane appeared as Sarah Prentice in the episode "River Champion" of the NBC Western series Riverboat starring Darren McGavin. A few weeks later, Crane was cast as Sarah in the episode "Deadly Tomorrow" of the ABC adventure series The Islanders, set in the South Pacific.
In 1961, Crane guest-starred in the title role in the episode "The Return of Widow Brown" of the NBC Western The Deputy. Later that year she re-appeared on Gunsmoke in an episode entitled "Perce", as well as in an episode of The Asphalt Jungle. In 1965, Crane guest-starred as Mrs. Mavis Hull in The Fugitive episode "Masquerade" and a 1968 episode of The Flying Nun.
Several years after Crane passed age 30, she stopped receiving offers for acting jobs. At that point, she commented, "I said: Who needs it? I quit." She turned her hobby of decorating into a business and became a licensed interior decorator. She accepted occasional acting opportunities when she was between houses, but when she took on a house as a project, her approach was described as "a total commitment to the project in every detail, cellar to roof."
Personal life and death
In 1961, Crane married writer-producer Herb Sargent; the marriage ended in divorce. She died of breast cancer on September 28, 1973, at age 44 in Los Angeles, California, two years after the release of Fiddler on the Roof (1971), her last film.
