That might make her a footnote in the world of vinyl, but she left much bigger footprints.
A sample joke from the album:
"A little boy baby and a little girl baby are lying in their bassinets. Late in the morning the little girl baby starts yelling "Rape! Rape! Rape!" The little boy baby looked over at her and said, "Ah, shut up and turn over. You're lying on your pacifier."
When Redd Foxx became a household name, Norma ghosted this book for him:
She wrote many other books, including an autobiography for children:
So who was Norma Miller (December 2, 1919-May 5, 2019) and what did she do?
It's more like what DIDN'T she do. OK, she didn't become FAMOUS like Redd Foxx. That's about all.
Her parents from Barbados, Norma was born in Harlem, and got her start in show business when, only twelve, she won a "Lindy Hop Contest" at the Savoy Ballroom with experienced partner George "Twist Mouth" Ganaway.
Three years later, she was touring the world as a member of "Whitey's Lindy Hoppers." Er, "Whitey" was Herbert White.
Whitey's dancers were well-known and admired, and you can see them in "A Day at the Races," a Marx Brothers film that probably would be considered racist by the owners of the Philadelphia Flyers. Everyone else would consider their act "joyful." Norma and the dancers would later turn up in Olsen and Johnson's "Hellzapoppin," (Norma played the cook in the movie).
Broadening her expertise, Norma began taking serious dance lessons with Martha Graham and eventually created her own Norma Miller Dancers troupe. They were successful through the 50's and into the 60's. It was in the 70's that she took some advice and got into stand-up comedy. As she recalled, "“Redd Foxx said, look, you’re not going to be able to dance any longer; your knees are knocking; you better learn to talk.”
Soon enough, the veteran show biz star and fledgling comic was entertaining the troops in Vietnam, working Vegas and issuing her lone album. She appeared in episodes of "Sanford and Son" as well as the spin-offs "Grady" and "Sanford Arms."
She was a legendary "survivor," and was often sought out for her recollections of the 40's and 50's, appearing in many documentaries on jazz legends and also comedy stars including Moms Mabley. She began a legend herself, taking the stage into her 90's to perform and offer stories about her life and times.
For more, check out the two Savoy books, "Stompin' at the Savoy" is the children's book and "Swingin' at the Savoy: The Memoir of a Jazz Dancer" is the full autobiography.
Let's put the needle back in the groove on her lone record album. Here's a typical joke (also on that album) that Redd could've used, and probably did:
"It makes no damn difference, black or white. Turn out that light, sweetie, it comes down to a case of who washed."
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