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 of CBS Radio's ''

The March of Time ''The March of Time'' is an American newsreel series sponsored by Time Inc. and shown in movie theaters from 1935 to 1951. It was based on a radio news series broadcast from 1931 to 1945 that was produced by advertising agency Batten, Barton, ...

'', 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 portraying Tyrone Power's love interest in the classic ''

Jesse James Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, Bank robbery, bank and Train robbery, train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the "Little Dixie (Missouri), Little Dixie" area of M ...

'' (1939), which also featured Henry Fonda, and playing opposite Spencer Tracy in '' Stanley and Livingstone'', later that same year. After turning to the stage in the late 1940s, she had her greatest success in a character role, the distraught mother in '' The Bad Seed'', receiving a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the 1955 stage production and an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nomination as Best Actress for the 1956 film adaptation, her last film role. Kelly then worked regularly in television until 1963, then took over the role of Martha in the original Broadway production of '' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' for several months. She returned to television for a handful of appearances in the mid-1970s.

Biography

Of Irish descent, Kelly was born in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...

, 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. Her younger brother was actor Jack Kelly, most noted for playing the role of Bart Maverick, one of the leads (alongside James Garner, Roger Moore or Robert Colbert) in the ABC

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

series '' Maverick'' (1957-1962). The Kelly siblings, who resembled each other, are not currently known to have worked together in film or television. Kelly was educated at Bentley School for Girls, Immaculate Conception Academy, and Saint Lawrence Academy. As a child model, her image had appeared in so many different advertisements by the time she was nine years old that '' Film Daily'' commented, "Nancy has been referred to as 'the most photographed child in America,' largely because of her commercial posing." Kelly worked extensively in radio in her adolescent years. She played Dorothy Gale in a 1933–34

NBC Radio Network The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it wa ...

show, ''The Wizard of Oz'', based on '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''. Kelly was the first ingenue on CBS Radio's ''

'' series, with a vocal versatility that made it possible for her to portray male parts as well as female. She also portrayed

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

. As an adult, Nancy Kelly was a leading lady in 27 movies in the 1930s and '40s, including director

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

's '' Submarine Patrol'' (1938) with Preston Foster, '' Frontier Marshal'' (1939) with Randolph Scott as Wyatt Earp, ''Jesse James'' (1939) with Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda, ''Stanley and Livingstone'' (1939) with Spencer Tracy, the comedy '' He Married His Wife'' (1940) with Joel McCrea, '' Parachute Battalion'' (1941) with Robert Preston, Edmond O'Brien, Harry Carey, and Buddy Ebsen, and '' Tarzan's Desert Mystery'' (1943) with Johnny Weissmuller. She also starred in the 1949 Broadway play '' The Big Knife'' by Clifford Odets. Kelly was subsequently a two-time winner of the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatrical productions as well as a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play winner for her performance in '' The Bad Seed'', which she followed up by starring in the 1956 film version, receiving a nomination for the

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a lead ...

. She also starred on television, including leading roles in "The Storm" (1961) episode of '' Thriller'' and "The Lonely Hours" (1963) episode of '' The Alfred Hitchcock Hour''. In 1957 she was nominated at the 9th Primetime Emmy Awards for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for Best Single Performance by an Actress for the episode "The Pilot" in '' Studio One''. Kelly was a Republican who supported

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

during the 1952 presidential election.

Marriages

Kelly was married to actor Edmond O'Brien briefly from 1941–1942, and then to Fred Jackman, Jr., son of silent Hollywood cameraman and director Fred Jackman, from 1946 to 1950. She was married to theater director Warren Caro from 1955 to 1968. She and Caro had a daughter, Kelly Caro, in 1957.

Death

Kelly died at her Bel Air, California, home on January 2, 1995, from complications of

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

at the age of 73. She was survived by a daughter and three granddaughters. She was interred in the

Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary is a cemetery and Morgue, mortuary located in the Westwood, Los Angeles, Westwood area of Los Angeles. It includes a crematory for cremation services. Its location is at 1218 Glendon Av ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Walk of Fame

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, she has a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

at 7021 Hollywood Blvd. She was inducted on February 8, 1960.

Filmography

* '' The Untamed Lady'' (1926) with

Gloria Swanson Gloria Mae Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most famously for h ...

* '' Mismates'' (1926) with Warner Baxter * '' The Great Gatsby'' (1926) with Warner Baxter and William Powell * '' Girl on the Barge'' (1929) with Jean Hersholt * '' Glorifying the American Girl'' (1929; uncredited) with Mary Eaton * '' Convention Girl'' (1935) with Shemp Howard * '' Submarine Patrol'' (1938; directed by

) with Preston Foster and George Bancroft * ''

'' (1939) with Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, and Randolph Scott * '' Tail Spin'' (1939) with Alice Faye, Constance Bennett, Charles Farrell, and

Jane Wyman Jane Wyman ( ; born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007). was an American actress. A star of both movies and television, she received an Academy Award for Best Actress, four Golden Globe Awards and nominations for two Pr ...

* '' Frontier Marshal'' (1939) with Randolph Scott as Wyatt Earp * '' Stanley and Livingstone'' (1939) with Spencer Tracy and Walter Brennan * '' He Married His Wife'' (1940) with Joel McCrea * '' Sailor's Lady'' (1940) with Joan Davis and Dana Andrews * '' Private Affairs'' (1940) with Hugh Herbert and

Robert Cummings Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings (June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990) was an American film and television actor who appeared in roles in comedy films such as ''The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941) and ''Princess O'Rourke'' (1943), and in d ...

* '' One Night in the Tropics'' (1940) with Allan Jones and

Abbott & Costello Abbott and Costello were an American comedy duo composed of comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, whose work in radio, film, and television made them the most popular comedy team of the 1940s and 1950s, and the highest-paid entertainers in t ...

* ''

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

'' (1941) with

Edmund Gwenn Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), for which he won t ...

* '' A Very Young Lady'' (1941) with Jane Withers * '' Parachute Battalion'' (1941) with Robert Preston, Edmond O'Brien, Harry Carey, and Buddy Ebsen * '' Fly-by-Night'' (1942; directed by

Robert Siodmak Robert Siodmak (; 8 August 1900 – 10 March 1973) was a German Jewish film director. His career spanned some 40 years, working extensively in the United States and France, as well as in his native country. Though he worked in many genres, he was ...

) with Richard Carlson * '' To the Shores of Tripoli'' (1942) with John Payne,

Maureen O'Hara Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was an Irish-born naturalized American actress who became successful in Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural redhead who was known for playing passionate b ...

, and Randolph Scott * '' Friendly Enemies'' (1942) with Charles Ruggles * ''

Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

'' (1943) with

Chester Morris John Chester Brooks Morris (February 16, 1901 – September 11, 1970) was an American stage, film, television, and radio actor. He had some prestigious film roles early in his career, and received an Academy Award nomination for ''Alibi'' ( ...

* '' Women in Bondage'' (1943) with

Gail Patrick Gail Patrick (born Margaret LaVelle Fitzpatrick; June 20, 1911 – July 6, 1980) was an American film actress and television producer. Often cast as the bad girl or the other woman, she appeared in more than 60 feature films between 1932 a ...

* '' Tarzan's Desert Mystery'' (1943) with Johnny Weissmuller * '' Gambler's Choice'' (1944) with

* ''

Show Business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produce ...

'' (1944) with

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Cantor was one of the prominent entertainers of his era. Some of h ...

and

George Murphy George Lloyd Murphy (July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an American actor and politician. Murphy was a song-and-dance leading man in many big-budget Hollywood musicals from 1930 to 1952. He was the president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1944 to ...

* ''

Double Exposure In photography and cinematography, a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image, and double exposure has a corresponding meaning in respect of two images. The exposure values may or may not be id ...

'' (1944) with

* '' Betrayal from the East'' (1945) with

Lee Tracy William Lee Tracy (April 14, 1898 – October 18, 1968) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He is known foremost for his portrayals between the late 1920s and 1940s of fast-talking, wisecracking news reporters, press agents, law ...

* '' Song of the Sarong'' (1945) with

William Gargan William Dennis Gargan (July 17, 1905February 16, 1979) was an American film, television and radio actor. He was the 5th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1967, and in 1941, was nominated for the Academy Award for Be ...

* '' The Woman Who Came Back'' (1945) with John Loder and

Otto Kruger Otto Kruger (September 6, 1885 – September 6, 1974) was an American actor. Originally a Broadway matinée idol, he established a niche as a charming villain in films, such as in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Saboteur (film), Saboteur'' (1942) and Dougla ...

* '' Follow That Woman'' (1945) with

and

Regis Toomey John Francis Regis Toomey (August 13, 1898October 12, 1991) was an American film and television actor. Early life Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was one of four children of Francis X. and Mary Ellen Toomey, and attended Peabody High Sc ...

* '' Murder in the Music Hall'' (1946) with Vera Ralston * '' Crowded Paradise'' (1956) with

Hume Cronyn Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor, screenwriter and playwright. He appeared in many stage productions, television and film roles throughout his career, and garnered numerous accolades, includ ...

* '' The Bad Seed'' (1956) with

Patty McCormack Patricia McCormack (born Patricia Ellen Russo; August 21, 1945) is an American actress with a career in theater, films, and television. McCormack began her career as a child actress. She is perhaps best known for her performance as Rhoda Penma ...

* '' The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'' (1963) (Season 1 Episode 23: "The Lonely Hours") as Mrs. J.A. Williams / Vera Brandon * '' Murder at the World Series'' (1975) with

Lynda Day George Lynda Louise Day George (born Lynda Louise Day; December 11, 1944) is an American television and film actress whose career spanned three decades from the 1960s to the 1980s. She was a cast member on ''Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series), Mission ...

Radio appearances

''Suspense'' episode 169, titled "A Week Ago Wednesday". aired November 29, 1945.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Nancy 1921 births 1995 deaths American film actresses American stage actresses American radio actresses American silent film actresses American child actresses 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Lowell, Massachusetts California Republicans Massachusetts Republicans Deaths from diabetes in California Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery