Natalie Norwick
Born
Natalie Theodora Katz

(1923-05-28)May 28, 1923
The Bronx, New York City, US
DiedDecember 20, 2007(2007-12-20) (aged 84)
Coconut Creek, Florida
OccupationActor
Years active1945–1999
SpouseBernard Robertson (1949–1955)
Parent(s)Isidore Katz, Lillian Waxberg

Natalie Norwick (May 28, 1923 – December 20, 2007)[1][2] was an American actor who performed on stage and in television and films over a span of 54 years.

Early life

She was born Natalie Theodora Katz to Russian immigrants Isidore Katz, a theatre musician, and Lillian Waxberg Katz.[2][3] Her only sibling was her twin sister Gloria Katz.[1][3][4] She grew up in the Bronx, speaking both Russian, her first language, and English.[5] By 1940, she had completed high school, and the following year took out a social security card in her birth name.[4][2]

Early stage career

During October 1945, Natalie Norwick, now using her stage name, appeared as Eliza in a touring company's musical version of Uncle Tom's Cabin.[6][7] She next appeared in The Servant of Two Masters, an Equity Library Theatre-sponsored production performed at the Harlem Library auditorium in April 1946.[8] That July she appeared in a summer stock adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, in which she played Jane Bennet.[9]

Following its successful Broadway run in 1946, the national touring company for Lute Song had Natalie cast as the Page[10] while also understudying first Mary Martin and then Dolly Haas, as the female lead.[11] In the latter role, Yul Brynner, the male lead, helped Natalie make the adjustment from character to leading performer, for which she later credited him and her main drama coach Uta Hagen.[5]

Kaufman and Gordon directed and produced a comedy called Town House, for which a traditional two-week tryout in Boston was cast in August 1948.[12] Natalie Norwick won a feature role as Madamoiselle, and performed throughout the tryout, but the part was one of several cut for the Broadway run.[13] It didn't help, as the play lasted only twelve performances at the National Theatre.

The following June 1949, Natalie Norwick did a season of summer stock at the Cobleigh Show Shop in Canton, Connecticut. She had feature roles as "the other woman" in both Made in Heaven and John Loves Mary, ironically just after getting married herself. She then had a five-month run with a revival tour of The Barretts of Wimpole Street through the Mid-Atlantic states, Missouri, and Michigan. Her performance as Cousin Bella was well received by more than one reviewer.[14][15][16]

New York TV

Natalie Norwick's first experience in television came in May 1945, when she was one of eight cast members for a special one-time dual radio-TV broadcast of The Town Crier of Chungking.[17][18] This program was the culmination of an effort by radio station WNEW to experiment with television, using the facilities of DuMont TV Station WABD.[19]

During August and September 1950, Natalie performed in one episode each of two half-hour live anthology series on NBC TV, The Clock and Armstrong Circle Theatre. She followed these with appearances as herself on two television shows hosted by Robert Q. Lewis, The Robert Q. Lewis Show in late 1950 and The Show Goes On in early 1951. That same year, she also took part in her first film, Fourteen Hours, a 20th Century Fox movie shot on location in New York City by director Henry Hathaway.[18] Like many of the bit players hired locally for this production, Natalie was uncredited. The following year, Natalie had two more acting performances on anthology series, Kraft Television Theatre and Studio One.[11]

For the winter of 1952–53, Natalie joined the Bliss Reparatory Company in presenting alternating plays on a tour of the Mid-Atlantic states. She had the female lead in P. G. Wodehouse's 1929 play Candle Light[11] and the feature role of Phebe in Shakespere's As You Like It.[18] After weeks of constant performing in drafty theaters and auditoriums, she suffered a bout of laryngitis.[20] This may have led to her decision to relocate to the West Coast and pursue television and film acting.

West Coast breakthrough

Natalie Norwick had worked on the West Coast once before, for a stage production of Detective Story starring Robert Preston.[11] She relocated there permanently in early 1954, and by May had started work on I Led 3 Lives, the first of four TV series in which she appeared that year. Next was an anthology series, Schlitz Playhouse, followed by the show that really launched her career, Medic.[21] The episode "With This Ring" had her guest star as an unwed mother-to-be, a controversial topic at the time.[22] At an age (30) when the careers of many other actresses fall off a cliff, Natalie's was given a second life.

Besides the publicity the Medic show afforded her, it also marked the start of a working relationship with the star of the series, Richard Boone. He was her television mentor, and his production company later employed her on seven episodes of his second series, Have Gun - Will Travel.[5] They also worked together on a production of Wuthering Heights, with Natalie playing Isabella to his Heathcliff.[23]

Besides her many television appearances in the mid- and late 1950s, Natalie had small credited parts in two films, 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956) and Hidden Fear (1957), neither of which generated much following. Thereafter, she confined her acting to the small screen, performing in dozens of television shows up to the early 1960s. Though she played a few leading-lady roles, her most extensive use was in character parts, by turns comical, quirky, sly, shrill, or just plain mean as the script demanded.

Later career

Anthology series, which were better suited to those with extensive stage experience, were in decline in the later 1950s. By 1960, broadcast television was dominated by narrative series employing a permanent cast of regulars with a few new guest stars each episode. While she easily found work in the latter type of series, the frantic pace of her television career began to slow down, so that she once again took up the stage after a hiatus of many years. She played the emotionally jarring role of the Samurai's Wife for a stage adaption of Rashomon in a two-month Los Angeles run, followed by a one-time performance as Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

She averaged less than one television role per year from 1963 on, though her 1966 appearance in a minor part of a Star Trek episode, "The Conscience of the King" retains some prominence.

From 1970 on, Natalie Norwick's career was marked by long gaps between performances. She undoubtedly had more stage work than can be documented today, as the slow decline of print media reduced coverage of regional theater. She performed on Broadway during 1979 for the short-lived Break A Leg, playing her own role and understudying the female lead, Julie Harris. Her television work ended in 1982 when she was 59, and thereafter she did only sporadic stage work.

Final performance

Broadway called again in 1997, when Norwick was cast as standby to Julie Harris for a revival of the award-winning The Gin Game. The two-person cast co-starred actor Charles Durning, with Tom Troupe as his standby.[24] The revival ran for 19 previews and 145 performances from April 5 to August 31, 1997, at the Lyceum Theatre. The Broadway company, including Natalie, then did a seven-month tour from October 28, 1998. While playing Stamford, Connecticut, in late February 1999, Julie Harris suffered a fall. By the time the tour reached Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Julie had to undergo emergency surgery for a fluid build-up from the fall.[25] Natalie Norwick did the remaining shows at the Parker Playhouse in Ft. Lauderdale then the opening performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC the following week.[26] By the time the tour finished in Boston, Julie Harris had rejoined the cast.[25]

Following The Gin Game, Natalie Norwick retired to Coconut Creek, Florida, where she spent the remaining years of her life. She died at age 84 on December 20, 2007.[2]

Personal life

While appearing in summer-stock theatre, Natalie married New York TV director Bernard Robertson in Stamford, Connecticut, on June 4, 1949.[27] She must have already legally assumed her stage name, for "Norwick" was her surname on the official record. She later divorced him in Santa Monica, California, during spring 1955.[28]

Like many actors when between stage or television performances, Natalie Norwick had a part-time job, in her case as a hat-check girl at Lindy's Restaurant in Manhattan. She worked at this anonymous situation until columnist Walter Winchell outed her.[29]

A newspaper ran a publicity portrait photo of Natalie Norwick in August 1959, describing her as "five-foot-two in her stocking feet", brown-eyed, and "plays the piano for fun". It also mentioned she liked to take walks, dance, and play chess.[30]

Columnist Mike Connolly mentioned in February 1960 that Natalie Norwick and her boyfriend, actor Ross Martin, had parted ways due to incompatible work schedules.[31] He was separated from his first wife at the time, and was a series regular on Mr. Lucky, while Natalie was starting rehearsals for a stage adaption of Rashomon.[32]

Stage performances

Listed by year of first performance
Year Play Role Venue Notes
1945 Uncle Tom's Cabin Eliza Murat Theater The four-day performance at this venue in October was likely part of a longer tour
1946 The Servant of Two Masters Equity Library Theatre This English adaptation by Ellen Fenwick was the first performance of Goldoni's play in New York[8]
Pride and Prejudice Jane Bennet Gretna Theatre
1947 Lute Song Page / Wife (understudy) National Touring Company
1948 Berkeley Square Summer Stock in MA/CT A summer revival of the 1929 Broadway success with Freddie Bartholomew as the lead[33][11]
Town House Mademoiselle Colonial Theatre Written by Gertrude Tonkonogy, based on The New Yorker stories by John Cheever[13]
1949 Made in Heaven Cobleigh Show Shop, Canton, CT A marital farce written by Hager Wilde, which had 92 performances on Broadway in 1946–47
John Loves Mary Lily Herbish Cobleigh Show Shop, Canton, CT
The Barretts of Wimpole Street Bella Hedley Revival Tour Rudolf Besier's 1930 play had a successful revival tour from October 1949 thru the end of February 1950
1953 Candle Light / As You Like It Marie / Phebe Touring Company The Bliss Rep alternated P. G. Wodehouse and Shakespere during a Winter tour of the Mid-Atlantic states
1960 Rashomon Samurai's Wife Bradtree Theater, Hollywood This was the Tony-nominated adaption by Fay and Michael Kanin that had run for six months on Broadway
A Midsummer Night's Dream Hippolyta Avalon Ballroom An abbreviated adaptation for a single performance at the annual Santa Catalina Festival of Arts
1966 Two for the Seesaw Gittel Mosca Community Playhouse, Atlanta Natalie co-starred with Pernell Roberts in this two character play by William Gibson
After the Fall Elsie Actor's Theater, Beverly Hills The first of a trilogy of Arthur Miller's plays presented by this Rep Company[34]
1968 The Sea Gull Maid Inner City Cultural Center, Los Angeles
1977 Poor Murderer Coronet Theatre This was the ANTA West production of the 1976 Broadway version of Pavel Kohout's play[35]
1979 Break A Leg Actress/Standby: Gertie Kessel Palace Theatre Natalie played the role of "Actress" and understudied the female lead, Julie Harris. The show lasted for only 12 previews and one performance.
1997 The Gin Game Standby/Fonzia Dorsey Lyceum Theatre As standby for a two-character play, Natalie had to be physically present in the theater for all 145 performances
1998 The Gin Game Standby/Fonzia Dorsey Touring Company At age 75, Natalie Norwick took over for Julie Harris for two weeks in April 1999

Filmography

Film (by year of first release)
Year Title Role Notes
1951 Fourteen Hours Uncredited She was one of some 300 local NYC actors hired by Henry Hathaway to play bit parts and crowd scenes[18]
1956 23 Paces to Baker Street Janet Murch Set in London, some reviewers assumed Natalie Norwick's nursemaid was another of the many English character actors in the film
1957 Hidden Fear Susan Brent
Television (in original broadcast order)
Year Series Episode Role Notes
1945 (Special: May 3, 1945) The Town Crier of Chungking Chinese Villager A special dual broadcast on radio and TV by radio station WNEW using DuMont TV Station WABD facilities
1950 The Clock Rumble in Manhattan
Armstrong Circle Theatre The Oldest Song One of her co-stars in this episode was Ross Martin, who would later play a role in her personal life
The Robert Q. Lewis Show Herself That she appeared on the show is known only from a later newspaper article[18]
1951 The Show Goes On Herself That she appeared on the show is known only from a later newspaper article[18]
1952 Kraft Television Theatre That she appeared on the show this year is known only from a 1953 newspaper article[11]
Studio One That she appeared on the show this year is known only from later newspaper articles[11][18]
1953 The Goldbergs Episode of 10/15/53 Wellesley Girl Walter Winchell saw her on this episode then recognized her as the hat check girl at Lindy's[29]
1954 I Led 3 Lives Depression Heather Broadcast May 22 this was Natalie's first TV work after relocating to the West Coast
Schlitz Playhouse The Net Draws Tight
Medic With This Ring Unwed Mother-to-be Her breakthrough role, the spark leading to many more parts in television and film
The Lineup Dial 116
1955 Cavalcade of America That They Might Live Story of Dr. Abraham Jacobi (Booth Colman), founder of American pediatrics, and his second wife Dr. Mary Putnam (Emien Davis).
The Halls of Ivy The French Exchange Student
Big Town Hurricane
The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse The Boy with the Beautiful Mother Mother A boy ashamed of his immigrant parents makes up a fantasy mother[36]
Death Valley Days The Crystal Gazer Eilley Orrum
You Are There The Triumph of Louis Braille Docudrama series relates Louis Braille (Barry Atwater) and his creation[37]
Fireside Theatre Nailed Down Belle Natalie had the corner on "pregnant woman in a medical crisis" teleplays[38]
Matinee Theater Wuthering Heights Isabella Linton With Natalie's TV mentor Richard Boone as Heathcliff, a rare filmed ahead of time episode for this usually live daily anthology series[39][23]
Crusader The Way Out Magda Varzov
1956 The Star and the Story The Difficult Age Thin Girl
They
Navy Log Not A Leg To Stand On Sally
The Millionaire The Story of Sally Delaney Sally Delaney
1957 The 20th Century Fox Hour False Witness Gloria Vardosch TV remake of Call Northside 777, with Natalie as the ex-wife of a falsely accused hood[40][41]
Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal Love in White Shoes Nurse Hakopian Spring fever sets Natalie's character to find a mate in the hospital where she works[42]
The O. Henry Playhouse The Fool Killer Elise (Factory Girl)
The Thin Man The Dollar Doodle Marcella Nyle Chapman Natalie plays the ex-college roommate of Nora Charles, blackmailed into kleptomania[43]
Boots and Saddles The Obsession Lucy
M Squad The Matinee Trade Nancy McAdams Wylander
1958 Perry Mason The Case of the Daring Decoy Mavis Jordan Her quirky character speaks in a deadpan Bronx monotone while convulsing the courtroom with her testimony
Dragnet The Big Evans
Have Gun – Will Travel A Snare For Murder Amy Martin
1959 The D.A.'s Man Sammy's Friend
Have Gun – Will Travel The Monster of Moon Ridge Emily Bella
Mike Hammer Coney Island Baby Rosa
1960 The Rebel Angry Town Mrs. Morton
Law of the Plainsman Amnesty Clara Williams
Have Gun – Will Travel Ambush Sarah
The Puppeteer Maryanne Croft
1961 Zane Grey Theater Honor Bright Marie
Have Gun – Will Travel Soledad Crossing Jody Strickland
87th Precinct The Floater Priscilla Ames
Have Gun – Will Travel Squatter's Rights Sarah Clemenceau
1962 The Detectives The Con Man Marie
Have Gun – Will Travel Bandit Sandy
Ben Casey The Night That Nothing Happened Mrs. Tarlow Once again Natalie's character is an expectant mother in a crisis condition
1963 Gunsmoke Blind Man's Bluff Maid
1964 Perry Mason The Case of the Drifting Dropout Miss Standish
1966 Star Trek S1:E13, The Conscience of the King Martha Leighton A small part on a single episode of a cult classic outweighs the entire rest of her career in modern memory
1968 Dark Shadows Episode #1.512 Ghost of Ruby Tate Uncredited, like all of her appearances on this daytime soap opera
Episode #1.515 Ghost of Josette duPres
1969 Dark Shadows Episode #1.666 Ghost of Josette duPres
Episode #1.708 Edith in the coffin
Episode #1.709 Edith in the coffin
Episode #1.710 Edith in the coffin
Episode #1.860 Cloaked figure at seance
1976 Ryan's Hope Episode #1.232 Elizabeth Levitt
1977 Starsky & Hutch The Plague (Part 1) Virginia Donner
1982 The Edge of Night Episode #1.6763 Mrs. Jorgenson

References

  1. 1 2 New York City, U.S., Birth Index 1910–1965, Births Reported in 1923 Borough of the Bronx, retrieved from Ancestry.com
  2. 1 2 3 4 US Social Security Applications and Claim Index 1936–2007, retrieved from Ancestry.com
  3. 1 2 1930 US Federal Census, retrieved from Ancestry.com
  4. 1 2 1940 US Federal Census, retrieved from Ancestry.com
  5. 1 2 3 Grant, Ila S. (August 11, 1960). "It was hot, dusty day at Fort Benham". The Bend Bulletin. Bend, Oregon. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Natalie Norwick (Photo and caption)". The Indianapolis Star. Indianapolis, Indiana. October 14, 1945. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Footlights and Flickers". The Indianapolis News. Indianapolis, Indiana. October 17, 1945. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 Sylvester, Robert (April 7, 1946). "A Nod To An Old Fighter And To Some Young Actors". Daily News. New York City. p. 83 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Miss Lebanon Makes Stage Debut Tonight". Lebanon Daily News. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. July 11, 1946. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "'Lute Song' a Handsome Production". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan. May 13, 1947. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Miss Norwick Will Appear in 'Candlelight' Presentation". The Times Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. January 4, 1953. p. 56 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Team of Max Gordon and George Kaufman". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. August 29, 1948. p. 93 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. 1 2 Durgin, Cyrus (September 3, 1948). "The Stage "Town House" Colonial Theatre". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 32 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Stage Favorite In Return Visit". The Morning News. Wilmington, Delaware. October 29, 1949. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Kirkley, Donald (February 21, 1950). "The Barretts Are Back". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ Lindeman, Edith (February 28, 1950). "Miss Peters Adds Stature To 'Barretts'". The Times Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Thursday's Radio Features (9 PM to Midnight)". The Daily News. New York City. May 3, 1945. p. 571 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "AAUW To Bring Shakespere's Play 'As You Like It'". The Decatur Daily. Decatur, Alabama. January 18, 1953. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ ""What WNEW Is Doing About Television", Television: The Magazine of Video Fact, Vol. II, No. 5, New York, New York, June 1945" (PDF).
  20. ↑ Lindeman, Edith (January 19, 1953). "Bliss Actors Play To 5,000 In 8 Shows". The Richmond Times Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ "Natalie Norwick In 'Hidden Fear'". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. May 4, 1956. p. 77 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ Vernon, Terry (November 22, 1954). "TV Tele-Vues". Long Beach Independent. Long Beach, California. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. 1 2 "Television Programs for Today". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. November 30, 1955. p. 36 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "The Gin Game – Broadway Play – 1997 Revival | IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
  25. 1 2 "Julie Harris Recovering From Surgery". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. April 7, 1999. p. 36 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ↑ "Julie Harris Undergoes Surgery". The South Florida Sun Sentinel. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. April 6, 1999. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ↑ Connecticut Vital Records Index of Marriages 1897–1970, retrieved from CTStateLibrary.org
  28. ↑ "Natalie Norwick Has Until May 3 To Bring Witness". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. Hollywood, California. February 10, 1955. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. 1 2 Winchell, Walter (October 28, 1953). "On Broadway". Courier Post. Camden, New Jersey. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ↑ "Five-Foot-Two (photo caption)". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. August 9, 1959. p. 206 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ↑ Connolly, Mike (February 14, 1960). "Mike Connolly on TV". Sunday News. Lancaster, Pennsylvania. p. 45 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ↑ Warren, Geoffrey (March 25, 1960). "Classic From Japan 'Rashomon' On Stage". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ↑ "Summer Theatres". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. June 27, 1948. p. 52 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ↑ Smith, Cecil (September 29, 1966). "'After Fall' Opens Miller Play Trilogy". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. 92 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ↑ "(Advertisement)". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. September 25, 1977. p. 426 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ↑ "Program Notes". The Gazette. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. May 29, 1955. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. ↑ "Louis Braille (Photo caption)". Kansas City Star. Kansas City, Missouri. September 11, 1955. p. 94 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ↑ Buhrman, Margaret (November 1, 1955). "TV-Radio Highlights". The Kokomo Tribune. Kokomo, Indiana. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. ↑ Ames, Walter (November 30, 1955). "Medic Star 'Dyes' for Sake of Show". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. 30 – via Newspapers.com.
  40. ↑ "Todays Features". The Courier-News. Bridgewater, New Jersey. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  41. ↑ "Plays Reporter (photo caption)". The Rock Island Argus. Moline, Illinois. January 23, 1957. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  42. ↑ "Today's TV and Radio Programs". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. April 28, 1957. p. 184 – via Newspapers.com.
  43. ↑ "Highlights of Tonights Programs". The Daily Reporter. Dover, Ohio. September 20, 1957. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
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