Nancy Kassell Littlefield (September 18, 1929 – August 30, 2007) was a director and producer of television and documentary programs, who was the director of the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting from 1978 until 1983, during the administration of then-Mayor

Edward I. Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayo ...

. She was born in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, New York. Her assignment was to expedite the process, with her office cutting the red tape that had deterred many producers. She was successful and, in 1979 alone, she estimated that film, television and commercials had brought $500,000,000

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

to NYC's coffers. Among the feature films shot entirely or partly in

during Ms. Littlefield’s tenure were ''

Kramer vs. Kramer ''Kramer vs. Kramer'' is a 1979 American legal drama film written and directed by Robert Benton, based on Avery Corman's 1977 novel of the same name. The film stars Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, and Justin Henry. It tells the sto ...

'', '' All That Jazz'', '' Fame'', ''

Prince of the City ''Prince of the City'' is a 1981 American neo-noir crime drama film directed and co-written by Sidney Lumet. The film follows Daniel Ciello, an officer of the New York Police Department who chooses, for idealistic reasons, to expose corruption ...

'', ''

Fort Apache, the Bronx ''Fort Apache, The Bronx'' is a 1981 American crime drama film directed by Daniel Petrie. The film is about a hard-drinking, lonely veteran cop, Murphy ( Paul Newman), and his young partner Corelli ( Ken Wahl), who work in a crime-ridden precin ...

'', ''

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

'' and ''

The World According to Garp ''The World According to Garp'' is John Irving's fourth novel, about a man, born out of wedlock to a feminist leader, who grows up to be a writer. Published in 1978, the book was a bestseller for several years. It was a finalist for the Natio ...

''.

Personal life

Born in New York City to Benjamin George and Mildred Christine (Herndon) Kassel, Nancy had a brother, William. The family lived for a time at 2017 Walton Avenue,

Bronx, New York The Bronx () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state, state of New York (state), New York. It is south of Westchester County, New York, Westchester County; north and east of the ...

. Her marriage to William Littlefield ended in divorce, although she kept her ex-husband's surname professionally. Her companion, David Martin, died in 2006.

Death

Nancy Littlefield died in

Delray Beach, Florida Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020 was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States Census. Located 52 miles (83 kilometers) north of Miami, Delray Beach is in the ...

, aged 77, from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. She was survived by a son, Joshua, and a daughter, Amy Norton, and five grandchildren.

External links

NY Times obituary
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Littlefield, Nancy 1929 births 2007 deaths American documentary filmmakers Television producers from New York City American women television producers People from the Bronx Deaths from cancer in Florida American women documentary filmmakers 20th-century American women 21st-century American women