Esther Rolle Net Worth

Esther Rolle's Quotes

• Black college-educated people got to where they are on the backs of domestic help, meaning their parents and grandparents. So people should not forget how they got to where they are.
• [on her insisting to the producers of Good Times (1974) that the show have a husband and father figure] I told them I couldn't compound the lie that black fathers don't care about their children. I was proud of the family life I was able to introduce to television.

Interesting Facts about Esther Rolle

1. Originated the role of 'Dorcas Moulineaux' in Steve Carter's play, 'Dame Lorraine, " at the Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago on 27 March 1981.
2. Sister of Rosanna Carter.
3. Sister of Estelle Evans.
4. Graduated from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia in 1942.
5. Left Good Times (1974) after the 1976-1977 season due to her displeasure with the what she saw as the character of J.J. being a bad role model for young blacks. She returned at the beginning of the 1978-1979 season after the producers guaranteed that they would make J.J. a more respectable character.
6. Is an honorary member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.
7. Buried in Westview Cemetery, Broward County, Pompano Beach (her birthplace), Florida.
8. Last film was Train Ride (2000), an independent feature-film written and directed by Rel Dowdell, which was shot on location at Cheyney University in Cheyney, Pennsylvania, the oldest Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) college in the United States. She was also in Dowdell's multi-award winning short film version of "Train Ride", done while he was a graduate student at Boston University. She was appearing in "A Raisin in the Sun" at the Huntingdon Theatre in Boston at the time.
9. When she died in 1998, she left an estate valued in excess of $1.7 million including $200,000 in cash a $400,000 home, $1,072,000 in treasuries. In addition, she owned 1,000 shares of Bethdames Corporation, several Mutual Funds, and 2% interest in El Toro, Ltd.
10. Best remembered by the public for her starring role as Florida Evans on Good Times (1974).
11. Acting mentor and friends of Ja'net DuBois, BernNadette Stanis, Jimmie Walker and Ralph Carter.
12. 1938 graduate from Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach, Florida, USA, a school still in operation as of 2020.
13. Temporarily attended Booker T. Washington High School in Miami, Florida.
14. Acting ran in her family.
15. Born and raised on a 10-acre farm in Pompano Beach, Florida, USA.
16. Her former Good Times (1974) co-star, Jimmie Walker, was the only "Good Times" regular cast member not to attend her funeral.
17. Rolle's birthplace in the city of Pompano Beach, Florida, is about ten miles north of the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
18. Was 25 years older than Ja'net DuBois, who played her best friend (from high school) on Good Times (1974).
19. Despite the controversy, she enjoyed working with Ja'net DuBois on Good Times (1974).
20. Inspired by her father, Rolle's elder siblings formed a drama group, that also toured Florida.