Nancy Abbate Caldwell (born )
is an American former actress and dancer who was a Mousketeer on the first season of ''
The Mickey Mouse Club
''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised ...
''. She left entertaining to become a dance teacher.
Early years
Caldwell was born Nancy Abbate in Los Angeles.
When she was 7 years old, she began taking dancing lessons. She progressed from a local dance instructor to studying with Louis Dupron, a dance director for a Hollywood studio. Dupron later arranged an audition for Caldwell for a part in the film ''
Love Is Better Than Ever
''Love Is Better Than Ever'' is a 1952 American romantic comedy film directed by Stanley Donen from a screenplay by Ruth Brooks Flippen, starring Larry Parks and Elizabeth Taylor. The plot concerns a small-town girl who falls in love with a big-c ...
'', and she got the role.
Career
Entertaining
In 1954, Caldwell was picked to be a Mousketeer for the first season of ''The Mickey Mouse Club''. She left after that first year, partly because of rivalries and jealousy among the Mousketeers and partly because she wanted to do other work.
Soon after she left, she had an uncredited role in the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis film ''
Artists and Models
''Artists and Models'' is a 1955 American musical romantic comedy film in VistaVision directed by Frank Tashlin, marking Martin and Lewis's 14th feature together as a team. The film co-stars Shirley MacLaine and Dorothy Malone, with Eva Gabor ...
'' (1955). She also appeared in the films ''
The Farmer Takes a Wife'' and ''Courage of Black Beauty.''
She was a member of the cast of the pilot episode of ''
The Ray Bolger Show'' on television, but her part and others were recast for the regular series.
Following her husband's death when she was 16, Caldwell worked in nightclubs and made some TV commercials,
then moved with her baby to Las Vegas, where she worked as a cocktail waitress and danced in casinos and clubs, saving money in hopes of opening a dance studio.
Teaching
After having a successful dance studio in Las Vegas,
Caldwell moved to
Vista, California
Vista (; Spanish for "view") is a city in San Diego County, California. Vista is a medium-sized city within the San Diego-Carlsbad, CA Metropolitan Area and has a population of 101,638. Vista's sphere of influence also includes portions of u ...
,
[ and opened Nancy's Dance Studio in 1982.]Temecula, California
Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and was Municipal corporation, i ...
, in the early 1990s.
Personal life
Caldwell married when she was 16 years old. Three months after the wedding, she was six weeks pregnant when her husband died in a train crash.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caldwell, Nancy Abbate
Living people
20th-century American actresses
20th-century American dancers
American child actresses
American film actresses
American television actresses
Actresses from Los Angeles
American female dancers
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century American women