{{short description|American stage, film and television actress (1928 - 1973)}} {{Infobox person | name = | image = Norma Crane in Penelope.jpg | caption = Crane in 1966 | birth_name = Norma Anna Bella Zuckerman | birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|11|10}} | birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1973|9|28|1928|11|10}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | resting_place = Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, Los Angeles | occupation = Actress | spouse = Herb Sargent<br>({{abbr|m.|married}} 1961; {{abbr|div.|divorced}} 19??) | years_active = 1951&ndash;1973 }}

[[File:1984 Norma Crane Eddie Albert Studio One 1953.jpg|thumb|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.<ref name=APobit>{{cite news|title=Norma Crane, Starred in 'Fiddler'| date=1973-09-29| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19730929&id=oepRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_nIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7108,3087641| newspaper=St. Petersburg Times| page=11-B|access-date=2012-12-10}}</ref>

==Biography== Born to a Jewish family in New York City and raised in El Paso, Crane studied drama at Texas State College for Women in Denton,<ref>{{cite news| title=New Carole Lombard| date=1961-09-03|url=https://www.newspapers.com/img/thumbnail/377722193/330/200/1820_2027_1733_1050/0/yes/2262_2500_849_105/2263_2682_218_31_1/2379_2771_102_33_1/1784_2818_171_33_1.jpg?cs=86400| newspaper=The Baltimore Sun| page=A6|access-date=2012-12-10}}</ref> and was a member of Elia Kazan's Actors Studio.<ref>{{cite book| first=David| last=Garfield| title=A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio| url=https://archive.org/details/playersplacestor00garf| url-access=registration| year=1980| publisher=MacMillan| location=New York| isbn=978-0-0254-2650-4| page=[https://archive.org/details/playersplacestor00garf/page/280/mode/1up 280]| chapter=Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980}}</ref> She made her debut on Broadway in Arthur Miller's play ''The Crucible''.<ref name=APobit/>

Throughout the 1950s, she appeared on a variety of live television dramas, first gaining recognition in a televised adaptation of George Orwell's ''1984''.<ref name=APobit/> 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''.

She guest-starred four times on the CBS western television series ''Have Gun – Will Travel'' with Richard Boone. She appeared on an episode of ABC's ''The Untouchables'' as Lily Dallas, a ruthless gang leader, and she appeared in two other episodes.

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''.

==Personal life== In 1961, she married writer-producer Herb Sargent; the marriage ended in divorce.<ref name="Finstad">{{cite book| last=Finstad| first=Suzanne| title=Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood| publisher=Three Rivers Press| page=308| url=https://archive.org/details/natashabiography0000fins/page/n7/mode/2up?q=%22norma+crane%22| year=2001| isbn=978-0-3074-2866-0| access-date=February 28, 2026}}</ref>

==Death== Crane 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.<ref>{{cite news| date=1973-09-29| title=Norma Crane Dead; Played Tevye's Wife| newspaper=The New York Times| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/09/29/archives/norma-crane-dead-played-tevyes-wife.html| access-date=2022-08-04| issn=0362-4331| url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Partial filmography== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |1956|| ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' || Lorna Bramwell || Season 1 Episode 25: "There Was an Old Woman" |- |1956|| ''Tea and Sympathy'' || Ellie Martin || |- |1958|| ''Have Gun – Will Travel'' || Ella West || Season 1 Episode 17: "Ella West" |-

|1958|| ''Have Gun - Will Travel'' || Lucy Kellaway || Season 2 Episode 17: "The Taffeta Mayor" |- |1958|| ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' || Louise Marsh || Season 3 Episode 19: "The Equalizer" |- |1959|| ''Have Gun – Will Travel'' || Mrs. Smith - Wife || Season 3 Episode 2: "Episode in Laredo" |- |1959|| ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' || Blonde Lady in Bar || Season 5 Episode 3: "Appointment at Eleven" |- |1961|| ''All in a Night's Work'' || Marge Coombs || |- |1961|| ''Have Gun – Will Travel'' ||Martha Jane Conroy aka Calamity Jane||Season 4 Episode 35: "The Cure" |- |1966|| ''Penelope'' || Mildred || |- |1966|| ''The Big Valley'' || Emilie || Season 2 Episode 12: "Last Stage To Salt Flats" |- |1968|| ''The Sweet Ride'' || Mrs. Cartwright || |- |1970|| ''They Call Me Mister Tibbs!'' || Marge Garfield || |- |1970|| ''The Movie Murderer'' || Ellen Farrington || TV Movie |- |1971|| ''Fiddler on the Roof'' || Golde || |}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category-inline}} * {{IMDb name|0186408}} * {{IBDB name|100152}} * {{iobdb name|53873}} * {{TCMDb name|40741%7C118250}} * {{Rotten Tomatoes|celebrity/norma_crane}} * {{Find a Grave|9457}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Crane, Norma}} Category:1928 births Category:1973 deaths Category:Actresses from El Paso, Texas Category:American stage actresses Category:American film actresses Category:American television actresses Category:Deaths from breast cancer in California Category:Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Category:20th-century American actresses Category:Jewish American actresses Category:Texas Woman's University alumni Category:20th-century American Jews