Project Mailer

Norris Church Mailer

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Norris Church Mailer (born Barbara Jean Davis, January 31, 1949, in Arkansas – died November 21, 2010, in Brooklyn Heights, New York City)[1] 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.[2]

Photo courtesy of the Norris Church Mailer Estate.

Early Life & Career

Originally from Atkins, Arkansas, Norris Church Mailer had several successful careers.[3] After graduating from Arkansas Polytechnic College, she became an art teacher and, later, a successful model for the Wilhelmina modeling agency.[4] She held several one-woman exhibits featuring her paintings and also acted in television and features films, including Ragtime (1981), The Executioner's Song (1982), and the television soap opera, All My Children[5]. She was a member of the Actors Studio.[6]

Life with Normal Mailer

Norris Church Mailer's near 33-year marriage to her second husband, Norman Mailer,[7] is frequently the focus of reviews about her life. She described Mailer as "the Henry Higgins to my Eliza Doolittle"[8], often seeking his advice on drafts of her novels and defending him against critics.[4] A Ticket to the Circus chronicles her relationship with Mailer.[9] Norris was mother and stepmother to nine children.[10]

Legacy & Death

In 2004, Wilkes University established the Norris Mailer Church Fellowship in creative writing in her honor.[11] She died in 2010 of complications from gastrointestinal cancer.[10]


Citations

  1. ↑ Norris Church Mailer 2014.
  2. ↑ Wire Report 2010.
  3. ↑ Mailer 1989.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Klemesrud 1979.
  5. ↑ Mansfield 2008.
  6. ↑ Wire Reports 2010.
  7. ↑ Italie 2010.
  8. ↑ Berger 2019, p. B11.
  9. ↑ Bragg 2010.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Berger 2019.
  11. ↑ The Norris Church Mailer Fellowship in Creative Writing n.d.

Works Cited

  • 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". Newsgroup: 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). "Life With Norman Mailer: So far it has been good to Norris Church". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
  • Klemesrud, Judy (April 22, 1979). "Mailer's Latest Love Story". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. New York.
  • Mailer, Norris (April 1989). "The Very Versatile, Mrs. Mailer" (Interview). Interviewed by Frazier Moore.
  • Mansfield, Stephanie (January 26, 1986). "Norris Mailer, Out of Arkansas The Author's Sixth Wife, Her Art and Her Roots". Washington Post.
  • "The Norris Church Mailer Fellowship in Creative Writing" (Press release). n.d. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
  • Wire Reports (2010-11-26). "Norris Mailer, 6th wife of Norman Mailer, dies". Tulsa World.
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