Gertrude Norman

Gertrude Norman
Born(1851-05-19)19 May 1851
London, England
Died20 July 1943(1943-07-20) (aged 95)
Hollywood, California
Resting placeHollywood Forever Cemetery
OccupationAmerican silent film actress
Years active1911-1936

Gertrude Norman (May 19, 1848[1] or 1851[2] – July 20, 1943), was an English/American theater and Hollywood silent film actress. She is credited with being in 44 films between 1911 and 1936. She was also a screenwriter and director for early silent films. She also appeared in four films with sound, making her one of the oldest actresses to perform during the silent and sound eras.[3]

Norman was born in London, England. One of her early films from 1910 was rediscovered in a sea chest in the 2000s. She played a "mother" role in The Birth of a Nation.[4] By the time Norman made her first "talkie" she was already in her 80s and played the part of a grandmother.

Gertrude Norman and Robert Harron in The Tender Hearted Boy

She is not to be confused with Gertrude "Toto" Norman (c. 1880–1961), an actress of the same time period as well as secretary and companion to the American opera singer Marcia Van Dresser, or with a children's book author Gertrude Norman.

  1. ^ Nissen, Axel (April 12, 2007). Actresses of a Certain Character: Forty Familiar Hollywood Faces from the Thirties to the Fifties. McFarland. ISBN 9780786427468 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Ellenberger, Allan R. (May 1, 2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland. ISBN 9780786409839 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Nissen, Axel (August 1, 2016). Accustomed to Her Face: Thirty-Five Character Actresses of Golden Age Hollywood. McFarland. ISBN 9781476626062 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "Watch That Make Up...Gertrude Norman shouldn't have much trouble..." Getty Images.