Norma Donaldson

Norma C. Donaldson (August 18, 1928 – November 22, 1994) was an American actress and singer born in the Harlem section of New York City. Her father, Fredrick Donaldson (b. 1906; d. 1955), and her mother, Laura, a housekeeper, raised her as the first of two children. Donaldson attended Girls' High School in Brooklyn, remaining there through her junior year.

At 21, Donaldson began her professional life as a nightclub singer, performing at venues throughout New York City beginning in 1949. Her nightclub work led to touring engagements alongside Harry Belafonte and later Lena Horne.

Donaldson's Broadway career spanned from 1957 to 1976, during which she appeared in productions including The Happiest Girl in the World, Bravo Giovanni, and Hallelujah, Baby! Her most prominent stage role came with the 1976 all-black revival of Frank Loesser's Guys and Dolls, in which she portrayed Miss Adelaide, the loveless chorus line dancer, opposite Robert Guillaume. She also co-starred with Guillaume in Purlie and No Place to be Somebody.

Her screen acting career began with a television appearance on Callback! on March 8, 1969. In the early 1970s, Donaldson appeared in Blaxploitation films, playing Gloria Roberts in Across 110th Street (1972) and Honey in Willie Dynamite (1973). On television, she portrayed Dr. Paulina Ravelle on General Hospital from 1987 to 1989, a character determined to prevent her daughter Simone from marrying the white Dr. Tom Hardy. From 1990 until her death, Donaldson played Lillie Belle Barber on the CBS daytime drama The Young and the Restless.

Donaldson never married and had no children. She died of cancer at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles on November 22, 1994, at the age of 66, and was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.