Career
He was best known as the voice of fictitious coffee grower Juan Valdez in the Colombian coffee television commercials and the announcer-narrator of National Broadcasting Company"s Dimension X. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Rose started acting while a student at George Washington University in Washington, District of Columbia. Rose honed his craft at the Actors Studio Drama School in New York, then landed parts in plays on and off-Broadway. During World World War II, he was recruited by the United States Office of War Information to work as a radio newscaster. After the war, Rose lent his distinctive voice to radio programs such as Dimension X and Columbia Broadcasting System Mystery Theater.
He narrated the short film Harold and the Purple Crayon in 1959, and provided several of the voices on the 1963 Columbia Broadcasting System cartoon Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales.
In 1948, Rose co-founded New Stages, an off-Broadway repertory company, with producer David Heilweil. New Stages presented the American debut of Jean-Paul Sartre"s best-known play, The Respectful Prostitute, prior to its Broadway run.
From 1969 to 1974, Rose stepped in front of the camera to portray the same character—psychiatrist Doctor Marcus Polk—on two American Broadcasting Company soap operas (One Life to Live and All My Children). He also appeared in the soap operas The Edge of Night and Search for Tomorrow.
Norman Rose died November 12, 2004 in Upper Nyack, New New York