Nellise Child (died June 11, 1981) was an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

and playwright.

Biography

Born Lillian Gerard, she changed her name to Nellise Child in an homage to her mother (i.e. "Nelly's child"). Child published eight novels, including ''Murder Comes Home'' (1933), ''The Diamond Ransom Murders'' (1935), ''Wolf on the Fold'' (1941), and ''If I Come Home'' (1944). She also wrote plays, including ''Sister Oakes'' and ''After the Gleaners''. Her play ''Weep for the Virgins'' was produced by the Group Theatre in 1935, directed by Cheryl Crawford. It was about three working-class sisters dreaming of a better life, and its setting was based on her own experiences working in a California fish cannery. The ''New York Times'' called the production "humid and amorphous," and it ran for only nine performances. ''Come to the Dance'', a comedy originally titled ''Happy Ending'', was produced in Miami in 1959 at the

Coconut Grove Playhouse The Coconut Grove Playhouse was a theatre in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. The building was originally constructed as a movie theater called the Player's State Theater. It opened on January 3, 1927, as a part of ...

. It starred

Dennis King Dennis King (born Dennis Pratt, 2 November 1897 – 21 May 1971) was an English actor and singer. Early years Born on 2 November 1897 in Coventry, Warwickshire, or Birmingham, England, King was the son of John and Elizabeth King Pratt. He ...

and

Isobel Elsom Isobel Elsom (born Isabelle Reed; 16 March 1893 – 12 January 1981) was an English film, theatre, and television actress. She was often cast as aristocrats or upper-class women. Early years Born in Chesterton, Cambridge, Elsom attend ...

and featured

Irene Castle Vernon and Irene Castle were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers and dance teachers who appeared on Broadway and in silent films in the early 20th century. They are credited with reviving the popularity of modern dancing. Castle was a st ...

in a supporting role. ''Happy Ending'' was then produced under its original title in 1960 at the

Bucks County Playhouse THE BUCKS COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE The Bucks County Playhouse is located in New Hope, Pennsylvania. When the ''Hope Mills'' burned in 1790, the grist mills were rebuilt as the ''New Hope Mills,'' by Benjamin Parry. The town was renamed for the mills. ...

. That production starred

Ruth Chatterton Ruth Chatterton (December 24, 1892 – November 24, 1961) was an American stage, film, and television actress, aviator and novelist. She was at her most popular in the early to mid-1930s, and in the same era gained prominence as an aviator, ...

and

Conrad Nagel John Conrad Nagel (March 16, 1897 – February 24, 1970) was an American film, stage, television and radio actor. He was considered a famous matinée idol and leading man of the 1920s and 1930s. He was given an Academy Honorary Award in 1940 and ...

. She was married to Abner G. Rosenfeld, with whom she had one son, Frank Redfield. Nellise Child died on June 11, 1981, in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, at the age of 79.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Child, Nellise American dramatists and playwrights 1981 deaths