Estelle Rolle
November 8, 1920 – November 17, 1998
First African American and the first person to win the Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries. She is known for her television role as Florida Evans, the character she played on two 1970s sitcoms. The character was introduced as Maude Findlay’s housekeeper on Maude and was spun off in the show’s second season into Good Times, a show about Florida’s family. Rolle was nominated in 1975 for the Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy Golden Globe Award for her role in Good Times. In 1979 she won an Emmy for her role in Summer of My German Soldier a small-screen prime-time movie.
Estelle Rolle died on November 17, 1998, in Culver City, California from complications of diabetes, She is laid to rest in her hometown of Pompano Beach, Florida.