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 CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

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

Jesse James Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, bank and train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the " Little Dixie" area of Western Missouri, James and his family maintained stro ...

'' (1939), which also featured Henry Fonda, and playing opposite Spencer Tracy in ''

Stanley and Livingstone ''Stanley and Livingstone'' is a 1939 American adventure film directed by Henry King and Otto Brower. It is loosely based on the true story of Welsh reporter Sir Henry M. Stanley's quest to find Dr. David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary presu ...

'' later that same year. After turning to the stage in the late 1940s, she had her greatest success in a

character role A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...

, 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 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, 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 Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 19 ...

or Robert Colbert) in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC List of Maverick episodes, television series ''Maverick (TV 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 (California), Immaculate Conception Academy, and Saint Lawrence Academy (Santa Clara), 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 ''The Film Daily, 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 show, ''The Wizard of Oz'', based on ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''. Kelly was the first ingenue on

's '' The March of Time'' series, with a vocal versatility that made it possible for her to portray male parts as well as female. She also portrayed Eleanor Roosevelt. As an adult, Nancy Kelly was a leading lady in 27 movies in the 1930s and '40s, including director John Ford's ''Submarine Patrol'' (1938) with Preston Foster, ''Frontier Marshal (1939 film), 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 (actor), Robert Preston, Edmond O'Brien, Harry Carey (actor), 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 (play), The Big Knife'' by Clifford Odets. Kelly was subsequently a two-time winner of the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Theatre in Chicago, 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 The Bad Seed (1956 film), 1956 film version, receiving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also starred on television, including leading roles in "The Storm" (1961) episode of ''Thriller (U.S. TV series), Thriller'' and "The Lonely Hours" (1963) episode of ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour''. In 1957 she was nominated at the 9th Primetime Emmy Awards#Best Single Performance by an Actress, 9th Primetime Emmy Awards for an Emmy Award for Best Single Performance by an Actress for the episode "The Pilot" in ''Studio One (anthology series), Studio One''. Kelly was a Republican Party (United States), Republican who supported Dwight Eisenhower during the 1952 United States presidential election, 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 film, 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 at the age of 73. She was survived by a daughter and three granddaughters. She was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Walk of Fame

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd. She was inducted on February 8, 1960.

Filmography

* ''The Untamed Lady'' (1926) with Gloria Swanson * ''Mismates'' (1926) with Warner Baxter * ''The Great Gatsby (1926 film), 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 John Ford) with Preston Foster and George Bancroft (actor), George Bancroft * ''

'' (1939) with Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, and Randolph Scott * ''Tail Spin'' (1939) with Alice Faye, Constance Bennett, Charles Farrell, and Jane Wyman * ''Frontier Marshal (1939 film), Frontier Marshal'' (1939) with Randolph Scott as Wyatt Earp * ''

'' (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 film), Private Affairs'' (1940) with Hugh Herbert and Robert Cummings * ''One Night in the Tropics'' (1940) with Allan Jones (actor), Allan Jones and Abbott & Costello * ''Scotland Yard (1941 film), Scotland Yard'' (1941) with Edmund Gwenn * ''A Very Young Lady'' (1941) with Jane Withers * ''Parachute Battalion'' (1941) with Robert Preston (actor), Robert Preston, Edmond O'Brien, Harry Carey (actor), Harry Carey, and Buddy Ebsen * ''Fly-by-Night (film), Fly-by-Night'' (1942; directed by Robert Siodmak) with Richard Carlson (actor), Richard Carlson * ''To the Shores of Tripoli'' (1942) with John Payne (actor), John Payne, Maureen O'Hara, and Randolph Scott * ''Friendly Enemies (1942 film), Friendly Enemies'' (1942) with Charles Ruggles * ''Tornado (film), Tornado'' (1943) with Chester Morris * ''Women in Bondage'' (1943) with Gail Patrick * ''Tarzan's Desert Mystery'' (1943) with Johnny Weissmuller * ''Gambler's Choice'' (1944) with Chester Morris * ''Show Business (1944 film), Show Business'' (1944) with Eddie Cantor and George Murphy * ''Double Exposure (1944 film), Double Exposure'' (1944) with Chester Morris * ''Betrayal from the East'' (1945) with Lee Tracy * ''Song of the Sarong'' (1945) with William Gargan * ''The Woman Who Came Back'' (1945) with John Loder (actor), John Loder and Otto Kruger * ''Follow That Woman'' (1945) with William Gargan and Regis Toomey * ''Murder in the Music Hall'' (1946) with Vera Ralston * ''Crowded Paradise'' (1956) with Hume Cronyn * ''The Bad Seed (1956 film), The Bad Seed'' (1956) with Patty McCormack * ''Murder at the World Series'' (1975) with Lynda Day George

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 Actors from Lowell, Massachusetts Actresses from Massachusetts California Republicans Massachusetts Republicans Deaths from diabetes Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery