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Nancy Kelly

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other people named Nancy Kelly, seeNancy Kelly (disambiguation).
Nancy Kelly
Publicity photograph
Born(1921-03-25)March 25, 1921
Lowell, Massachusetts,U.S.
DiedJanuary 2, 1995(1995-01-02)(aged 73)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
EducationImmaculate Conception Academy (California)
Saint Lawrence Academy (Santa Clara)
OccupationActress
Years active1926–1977
Notable work
Spouses
​
​
(m.1941;div.1942)​
Fred Jackman, Jr.
​
​
(m.1946;div.1950)​
​
​
(m.1955;div.1968)​
Children1
FamilyJack Kelly(brother)
AwardsTony Award for Best Actress in a Play
Hollywood Walk of Fame

Nancy Kelly(March 25, 1921 – January 2, 1995) was an American actress in film, theater, and television. A child actress and model, she was a repertory cast member ofCBS Radio'sThe March of Time,and appeared in several films in the late 1920s. She became a leading lady upon returning to the screen in the late 1930s, while still in her teens, and made two dozen movies between 1938 and 1946, including portrayingTyrone Power'slove interestin the classicJesse James(1939), which also featuredHenry Fonda,and playing oppositeSpencer TracyinStanley and Livingstone,later that same year. After turning to the stage in the late 1940s, she had her greatest success in acharacter role,the distraught mother inThe Bad Seed,receiving aTony Award for Best Actress in a Playfor the 1955 stage production and anAcademy Awardnomination asBest Actressfor the1956 film adaptation,her last film role. Kelly then worked regularly in television until 1963, then took over the role of Martha in the originalBroadwayproduction ofWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?for several months. She returned to television for a handful of appearances in the mid-1970s.

Biography[edit]

Studio publicity portrait circa 1940s
On set with directorWilliam BerkeduringBetrayal from the East(1945)
Onstage withKen KerchevalinWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?(1963)

Of Irish descent,[1]Kelly was born inLowell, Massachusetts,into a theatrical family. Her mother was silent film actress Nan Kelly, who coached her and managed her career. As a child actress, Kelly appeared in 52 films made on the East Coast by the age of 17.[2]Her younger brother was actorJack Kelly,[3]most noted for playing the role of Bart Maverick, one of the leads (alongsideJames Garner,Roger MooreorRobert Colbert) in theABCtelevisionseriesMaverick(1957-1962). The Kelly siblings, who resembled each other, are not currently known to have worked together in film or television.[citation needed]

Kelly was educated at Bentley School for Girls,Immaculate Conception Academy,andSaint Lawrence Academy.[4]

As a child model, her image had appeared in so many different advertisements by the time she was nine years old thatFilm Dailycommented, "Nancy has been referred to as 'the most photographed child in America,' largely because of her commercial posing."[5]

Kelly worked extensively in radio in her adolescent years. She playedDorothy Galein a 1933–34NBC Radio Networkshow,The Wizard of Oz,based onThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz.[6][7]Kelly was the first ingenue onCBS Radio'sThe March of Timeseries, with a vocal versatility that made it possible for her to portray male parts as well as female.[2]She also portrayedEleanor Roosevelt.[8]: 434  As an adult, Nancy Kelly was aleading ladyin 27 movies in the 1930s and '40s, including directorJohn Ford'sSubmarine Patrol(1938) withPreston Foster,Frontier Marshal(1939) withRandolph ScottasWyatt Earp,Jesse James(1939) with Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda,Stanley and Livingstone(1939) with Spencer Tracy, the comedyHe Married His Wife(1940) withJoel McCrea,Parachute Battalion(1941) withRobert Preston,Edmond O'Brien,Harry Carey,andBuddy Ebsen,andTarzan's Desert Mystery(1943) withJohnny Weissmuller.She also starred in the 1949 Broadway playThe Big KnifebyClifford Odets.Kelly was subsequently a two-time winner of theSarah Siddons Award[9][10]for her work inChicago theatricalproductions as well as aTony Award for Best Actress in a Playwinner for her performance inThe Bad Seed,[11]which she followed up by starring in the1956 film version,receiving a nomination for theAcademy Award for Best Actress.[12]She also starred on television, including leading roles in "The Storm" (1961) episode ofThrillerand "The Lonely Hours" (1963) episode ofThe Alfred Hitchcock Hour.In 1957 she was nominated at the9th Primetime Emmy Awardsfor anEmmy Awardfor Best Single Performance by an Actress for the episode "The Pilot" inStudio One.[13]

Kelly was aRepublicanwho supportedDwight Eisenhowerduring the1952 presidential election.[14]

Marriages[edit]

Kelly was married to actorEdmond O'Brienbriefly from 1941–1942, and then to Fred Jackman, Jr., son ofsilentHollywood cameraman and directorFred Jackman,from 1946 to 1950. She was married to theater directorWarren Carofrom 1955 to 1968.[15]She and Caro had a daughter, Kelly Caro, in 1957.

Death[edit]

Kelly died at herBel Air, California,home on January 2, 1995, from complications ofdiabetesat the age of 73. She was survived by a daughter and three granddaughters.[16]She was interred in theWestwood Village Memorial Park CemeteryinLos Angeles.[citation needed]

Walk of Fame[edit]

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, she has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fameat 7021 Hollywood Blvd. She was inducted on February 8, 1960.[17]

Filmography[edit]

Radio appearances[edit]

Year Program Episode/source
1944 Suspense "Eve"
1945 Suspense "A Week Ago Wednesday"[18]
1946 Suspense "Dark Journey"
1946 Suspense [18]

Suspenseepisode 169, titled "A Week Ago Wednesday". aired November 29, 1945.

References[edit]

  1. ^"Nancy Kelly Grows Up".Life. July 18, 1938. p. 36.Retrieved4 July2015.
  2. ^ab"Nancy Kelly, 73; Actress Lauded for 'Bad Seed'".Oliver, Myrna,Los Angeles Times,January 16, 1995. 16 January 1995.Retrieved2014-06-20.
  3. ^"Nancy Kelly".Hollywood Walk of Fame.Retrieved2 July2015.
  4. ^"Nancy Kelly to Head Crime Does Not Pay Drama".Sioux City Journal.Iowa. March 26, 1950. p. 33.RetrievedMay 30,2020– viaNewspapers.
  5. ^Eddy, Arthur W. (June 5, 1929)."Short Shots from New York Studios".The Film Daily. p. 7.Retrieved1 July2015.
  6. ^Terrace, Vincent (2003).Radio Program Openings and Closings, 1931–1972.Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 252.ISBN978-0-7864-4925-5.
  7. ^"Commercial Premiers This Week Unload 11 on WEAF Chain Alone"(PDF).Billboard.September 30, 1933. p. 13.RetrievedApril 15,2020.
  8. ^Dunning, John(1998).On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio(Hardcover; revised edition ofTune In Yesterday(1976) ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 434.ISBN978-0-19-507678-3.RetrievedJune 20,2014.
  9. ^Page, Eleanor (January 30, 1965)."Nancy Gets Award; Kelly Steals Show".Chicago Tribune. p. 15.Retrieved3 July2015.
  10. ^"Nancy Kelly Wins Title of Chicago's Actress of Year".Chicago Tribune. August 21, 1956.Retrieved3 July2015.
  11. ^Lyons, Leonard (April 26, 1961)."Vast Audience Startles Writers".The Evening Standard.The Evening Standard. p. 8.RetrievedJuly 1,2015– viaNewspapers.Open access icon
  12. ^"Nancy Kelly".oscars.org.Retrieved5 July2015.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^"Best Single Performance by an Actress – 1957".Television Academy.Retrieved5 July2015.
  14. ^Motion Picture and Television Magazine,November 1952, page 34, Ideal Publishers
  15. ^Vosburgh, Dick (January 20, 1995)."Obituary: Nancy Kelly".The Independent.Archivedfrom the original on 2022-06-18.Retrieved4 July2015.
  16. ^Saxon, Wolfgang (January 14, 1995)."Nancy Kelly, 73, Actress Noted In Hollywood and on Broadway".The New York Times.Retrieved2 July2015.
  17. ^"Nancy Kelly".Hollywood Walk of Fame.Retrieved2 July2015.
  18. ^ab"Radio's Golden Age".Nostalgia Digest.40(1): 40–41. Winter 2014.

External links[edit]

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