Most familiar to TV audiences as the diminutive but feisty court bailiff on Night Court, Selma Diamond's entrance into acting wasn't through the usual venue of vaudeville, stage work or modeling - she was a writer for TV shows, once having been nominated for an Emmy for Caesar's Hour. Although she had that tough New York accent and street demeanor, she was actually born in Ontario, Canada, but raised in Brooklyn. A graduate of New York University, she at first made a living by selling cartoons and fiction to the "New Yorker" magazine. NBC hired her as a writer for one of its radio shows, "The Big Show", and she later made the transition into writing for television. Her film debut was as the voice on the telephone of Spencer Tracy's wife in It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, where the world got a sample of the distinctive Diamond voice: nasal, high-pitched and one that could never be mistaken for anyone else's. She did a lot of TV work, and was a regular on another series, Too Close for Comfort before Night Court. She died of lung cancer in 1985.



Nominated for an Emmy in 1985 as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for "Night Court" (1984) Early careers included freelance writer, selling to the New Yorker. On "Night Court" (1984), the episode titled "Hello, Goodbye" (the first episode made after her death) was dedicated in her memory. At the end of the episode, a still photo of her is shown with a sound bite of Bull asking "So what didja think?" and Selma responding with, "I laughed I cried, it became a part of me". Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives." Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 230-231. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998.