Norma Terris
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Norma Terris (1904-1989) was an American musical theatre star. She is best known for originating the roles of Magnolia Hawks and her daughter Kim (as an adult) in the original Broadway production of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's classic 1927 musical play Show Boat, in 1927. She reprised her roles in the first New York revival of the show, in 1932. However, she was not chosen to appear in the 1929 part-talkie film, nor in the 1936 film version. Irene Dunne, who was discovered for Hollywood in the first touring company of Show Boat, would make her film debut in 1929, and go on to become one of the greatest stars of Hollywood's Golden Age. It was Dunne who eventually eclipsed Terris as Magnolia, playing the role in the 1936 film. Rather than having Miss Dunne also play the role of Kim in the movie, the producers chose musical comedy star Sunnie O'Dea for the role.
Terris had been celebrated for her adroit impersonations of popular public figures, which she had performed in Florenz Ziegfeld's Follies. She once expressed regret over not having had children, saying that Ziegfeld had mandated that stars in his stable of performers never become pregnant.
Norma 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. Unfortunately, both now seem to be lost. She never made aural recordings. Miss Terris married a doctor and retired to Connecticut, where she was an avid supporter of the Goodspeed Opera House.
In 1961 she appeared at a performance of the American Light Opera Company production of Show Boat in Washington, DC, at the invitation of its director, Donn B. Murphy. On the stage at the Trinity Theatre, she reminisced about the original production. Climbing atop a piano at a cast party after the show, she did a devastating impersonation of an inebriated Helen Morgan (who had created the role of Julie) singing "Bill" from the show.
In 1984, Goodspeed Musicals created a second performance venue in Chester, Connecticut which is named the Norma Terris Theatre.
Ms. Terris was, until her death in 1989, the last surviving actor to have appeared in the original production of Show Boat.
