Esther Rolle (b. Nov 8, 1920 - d. Nov. 17, 1998), was an American actress best known for her role as Florida Evans on the 1970s sitcom, Good Times. A spin-off of Maude (itself a spin-off of All in the Family), Good Times is viewed as a ground breaking work in television as it featured an almost exclusively black cast and told the surprisingly upbeat story of an African-American family living in the ghetto (a Chicago apartment project, inspired by the famous/infamous Cabrini Green.) Although the show became a vehicle for the mugging of it's breakout star Jimmie "J.J." Walker, in the decades since, the program has become primarily remembered for three things: the gospel choir tinged theme song, launching the career of Janet Jackson, and the off-screen death of a major character which lead to one of the most iconic and histrionic moments ever seen on sitcom television, which came courtesy of Ms. Rolle.
See the inspiration for the title of today's post, Aid and Abet a Punster, and read more about today after the jump:
