Norma Terris

Norma Terris (November 13, 1904, Columbus, Kansas - November

15, 1989, Lyme, Connecticut) was an American musical theatre star. Her mother,

a singer, named her after the heroine of Bellini's opera, Norma.

Born Norma Allison, she was acclaimed for her adroit

impersonations of popular public figures, which she had performed in Florenz

Ziegfeld's Follies, but may be best known for having originated the roles of

Magnolia Hawks and her daughter Kim (as an adult) in the original Broadway

production of Show Boat in 1927. Terris was originally chosen to play the dual roles of

Moonyean Clare and her niece Kathleen in Through the Years, Vincent Youmans's

1932 musical version of Jane Cowl's once-popular play, Smilin' Through, but she

was replaced at the last minute. The musical was a failure, but in 2001, it was

given a highly acclaimed studio cast recording. She made two films during the

early days of talking pictures - Married In Hollywood, and the 1930 version of

Cameo Kirby, which was, like Show Boat, a riverboat musical involving a

gambler. Cameo Kirby appears to be lost, and only twelve minutes of Married in

Hollywood apparently survive.