Audree Norton

Audree Lauraine Norton (January 13, 1927 – April 22, 2015) was a deaf actress and educator. She was born in Great Falls, Montana and raised in Minnesota.

Audree Norton
Born(1927-01-13)January 13, 1927
Great Falls, Montana
DiedApril 22, 2015(2015-04-22) (aged 88)
Fremont, California
Alma materGallaudet University
California State University, East Bay
OccupationActress

Biography

Audree's parents were Lauraine (née Greenman) and Joseph Bennett. At three years old she became Deaf from spinal meningitis. Two years later her parents divorced and soon after she and her mother moved to St. Paul, Minnesota. Her mother enrolled her at the W. Roby Allen School in Faribault, Minnesota. The Allen School used the oralism method that taught speech and lip reading and did not permit the use of sign language. Audree's mother learned that if Audree was to attend Gallaudet College (now university) she would have to attend the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf (MSAD) that was located across the street from the Allen School. Once at MSAD Audree flourished finally able to use sign language. A 1952 graduate of Gallaudet University,[1] she was one of the founding members of the National Theatre of the Deaf.[2] In 1974, she was the first Deaf person to earn a master's degree in Rhetoric from California State University, East Bay.

She performed one of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poems to music on the television series An Experiment in Television.[3] She also performed in episodes of Family Affair, The Man and the City, Mannix and The Streets of San Francisco.[4] In 1967, she was the first deaf actor to have a photograph featured in Time magazine.[5]

In 1978, she was the center of a controversy towards Deaf actors and actresses. Norton auditioned to appear in an ABC Afterschool Special titled Mom and Dad Can't Hear Me, but was told by the casting director that she could not have the part because he would rather have people who can speak. Norton complained to the Screen Actors Guild, which launched protests by deaf people in the United States. After this incident, Norton never performed on television again.[4]

She was the lead actress for the Kodak TV commercial "Memories", which was directed by Stuart Hagmann. It won a Clio Award for Best Commercial of the Year (1974).

In 2012, Norton received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Gallaudet University.[1]

In 2015, Norton died in Fremont, California.[6]

Audree was married to Kenneth Norton for sixty-three years. She had three children: Nikki (née Norton) Rexroat (married to Gary Rexroat), Kurt Norton, and Dane Norton; two grand children: Tessa Bailey (née Rexroat) Paine (married to Justin Paine) and Travis Alexander Norton Rexroat (married to Sophia Pellicoro); and two great-grandsons: Wesley Draper Paine and William Bennett Paine.

Filmography

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-05-20. Retrieved 2012-05-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Tabak, John (2006). Significant gestures: a history of American Sign Language. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-275-98974-3. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
  3. Padden, Carol; Tom L. Humphries (2006). Inside Deaf Culture. Harvard University Press. p. 111. ISBN 978-0-674-02252-2. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
  4. Schuchman, John S. (1999). Hollywood Speaks: Deafness and the Film Entertainment Industry. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-06850-8. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
  5. W., Norton, Kenneth (2016-10-18). My life with Audree : a Deaf couple's sixty-eight years of life, love, and pursuing dreams. [San Francisco?]. ISBN 9780692764626. OCLC 964657782.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. "Audree Norton, Pioneering Deaf Actress, Dies at 88". The Hollywood Reporter. May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
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