Norris Church Mailer

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Norris Church Mailer (née Barbara Jean Davis, January 31, 1949, in Atkins, Arkansas) was an American artist, actress, model, and author of several books. Her publications include the memoir, A Ticket to the Circus, and the novels Cheap Diamonds and Windchill Summer. She is the mother of Matthew, her son with her first husband, and John Buffalo.[1]

Photo courtesy of the Norris Church Mailer Estate.

After graduating from Arkansas Polytechnic College, Norris became an art teacher and, later, a successful model for Wilhelmina modeling agency.[2] She held several successful one-woman art exhibits and appeared in Ragtime (1981), The Executioner's Song (1982), and the television drama, All My Children.[3] Norris was a member of the Actors Studio.[1]

Norris's near 33-year marriage to her second husband, Norman Mailer,[4] is frequently the focus of reviews about her life. Norris described Mailer as “the Henry Higgins to my Eliza Doolittle,”[5] often seeking his advice on novel drafts and defending him against critics.[2] A Ticket to the Circus chronicles her life.[6]

In 2004, Wilkes University established the Norris Mailer Church Fellowship in Creative Writing in her honor. Norris died in 2010 of complications from gastrointestinal cancer.[5]

Links

Citations

Bibliography

  • Berger, Joseph (November 22, 2010). "Norris Church Mailer, Artist and Ally, Dies at 61". New York Times. New York.
  • Bragg, M. A. (November 23, 2010). "Provincetown Arts 'hero' Mailer is missed". CapeCodOnline.com. Retrieved 2010-11-26.
  • Harris, Ellen (December 2010). "The Norman Conquest, or The Last Wife of Norman Mailer Speaks". Belle Lettres. 11 (1): 22–23.
  • Italie, Hillel (November 22, 2010). "Norris Mailer; her memoir tells of life as author's 6th wife". Boston Globe. New York.
  • Klemesrud, Judy (April 22, 1979). "Mailer's Latest Love Story". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 3H.
  • Moore, Frazier (April 1989). "The Very Versatile Mrs. Mailer". Interview. pp. 66–68.
  • Mansfield, Stephanie (January 26, 1986). "Norris Mailer, Out of Arkansas The Author's Sixth Wife, Her Art and Her Roots". Washington Post.
  • Wilkes University (2004). "The Norris Church Mailer Fellowship in Creative Writing" (Press release). Retrieved 2019-04-07.
  • "Norris Mailer, 6th wife of Norman Mailer, dies". Tulsa World. 2010-11-26.