Normand was a very heavy smoker who may have suffered lung cancer, and/or a recurrence of tuberculosis in 1923, which led to a decline in her health, an early retirement from films in 1926 and her death in 1930 at age 36.

[17] Later that year, Normand starred with Chaplin and Marie Dressler in Tillie's Punctured Romance, the first feature-length comedy.

[19][20] Arbuckle, Normand's co-star in many films, was the defendant in three widely publicized trials for manslaughter in the 1921 death of actress Virginia Rappe.

Director William Desmond Taylor formed a close relationship with Normand based on their shared interest in books.

Author Robert Giroux claims that Taylor was deeply in love with Normand, who had originally approached him for help in dealing with an alleged cocaine dependency, and that Taylor met with federal prosecutors shortly before his death with an offer to assist them in filing charges against her drug dealers, theorizing that this meeting caused the dealers to hire a contract killer.

[21] According to Kevin Brownlow and John Kobal in their book Hollywood: The Pioneers, the idea that Taylor was murdered by drug dealers was invented by Paramount Studios for publicity purposes.

[22] On the night of his murder, February 1, 1922, Normand left Taylor's bungalow at 7:45 pm in a happy mood, carrying a book he had lent her.

[24] In 1924, Normand's chauffeur Joe Kelly shot and wounded millionaire oil broker and amateur golfer Courtland S. Dines with her pistol.

[28] Normand continued making films and was signed by Hal Roach Studios in 1926 after discussions with director/producer F. Richard Jones, who had directed her at Keystone.

The films were released with extensive publicity support from the Hollywood community, including her friend Mary Pickford.

“We used to go to the park with a stepladder, a bucket of whitewash, and Mabel Normand, and make a picture.” — Charlie Chaplin, recalling the early days of silent filmmaking.

Normand is played by actress Marisa Tomei in the 1992 film Chaplin opposite Robert Downey, Jr. as Charles Chaplin; by Penelope Lagos in the first biopic about Normand's life, a 35-minute dramatic short film entitled Madcap Mabel (2010); and by Morganne Picard in the motion picture Return to Babylon (2013).

In 2014, Normand was played on television by Andrea Deck in series 2, episode 8 of Mr Selfridge and by Kristina Thompson in the short film Mabel's Dressing Room.