Norma Crane (November 10, 1928 — September 28, 1973) was an actress of stage, film and television. Among her best-known roles was that of Golde in the 1971 film adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof. She starred in They Call Me Mister Tibbs! and Penelope. She was born in New York City but raised in El Paso, Texas.

Biography

Born Norma Anna Bella Zuckerman to a Jewish family in New York City and raised in El Paso, Crane studied drama at Texas State College for Women in Denton, and was a member of Elia Kazan's Actors Studio. She made her debut on Broadway in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible.

Throughout the 1950s, she appeared on a variety of live television dramas, first gaining recognition in a televised adaptation of George Orwell's 1984. 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". 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.

In 1960, Crane appeared as Sarah Prentice in the episode "River Champion" of the NBC western series Riverboat starring Darren McGavin. In the story line, fight promoter Dan Muldoon (Dennis O'Keefe) arranges a prize fight aboard the Enterprise. George Kennedy and Slim Pickens portray Gunner Slagle and Porter Slagle, respectively. 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. In the story line, Amelia Brown returns to the town of Silver City eight years after the lynching of her husband, Lem. Authorities believe that she is hiding loot from her husband's crimes. She also appeared that year in an episode of The Asphalt Jungle.

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