Marilyn Nash (October 26, 1926 – October 6, 2011) was an American

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and

casting director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra for a particular role or part in a script, screenp ...

. She was best known for starring in the 1947 Charlie Chaplin film ''

Monsieur Verdoux ''Monsieur Verdoux'' is a 1947 American black comedy film directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, who plays a bigamist wife killer inspired by serial killer Henri Désiré Landru. The supporting cast includes Martha Raye, William Frawley, a ...

''.

Early life

Nash was born in Flint, Michigan, and attended the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

with the intention of pursuing medicine as her chosen career. However, her professional career path changed when she traveled to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

with her mother while attending Arizona.

Career

By chance, Nash met Charlie Chaplin while playing

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

at the

Beverly Hills Hotel The Beverly Hills Hotel, also called the Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows, is located on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California, Beverly Hills, California. One of the world's best-known hotels, it is closely associated with Cinema of the ...

. Chaplin quickly signed Nash as an actress in his

Charlie Chaplin Studios The Jim Henson Company Lot, formerly A&M Studios, is a studio property located just south of the southeast corner of North La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Originally established by film star Charlie Chaplin, the property serv ...

. He then cast her in his

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

'', which was released in 1947. Unknown World (1951) 1

Nash appeared in just one other film during her career, the 1951

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

adventure ''

Unknown World ''Unknown World'' (a.k.a. ''Night Without Stars'') is a 1951 independent film, independently made American black-and-white science fiction adventure film, directed by Terry O. Morse, Terrell O. Morse, and starring Bruce Kellogg, Marilyn Nash, Jim ...

'', in which she portrayed a doctor. She then switched to television and stage roles during the 1950s. Her television credits include ''

Hopalong Cassidy Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of short stories and novels based on the character. Mulford portrayed the character as rude, dangerous, and rough-talking. He was ...

'' in 1952 and ''

Medic A medic is a person involved in medicine such as a medical doctor, medical student, paramedic or an emergency medical responder. Among physicians in the UK, the term "medic" indicates someone who has followed a "medical" career path in postgradu ...

'' in 1955. She moved to Oroville, located in

northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

, with her second husband, Dr. Donald P. Franks. There Nash worked as a

, specializing specifically in films shot in the region surrounding Oroville. Her casting credits included ''

The Great Smokey Roadblock ''The Great Smokey Roadblock'' is a 1977 comedy road film written and directed by John Leone. It stars Henry Fonda, Eileen Brennan, John Byner, Dub Taylor, and Daina House. The film is also known as ''The Goodbye Run'' and ''The Last of the Cowbo ...

'', ''

The Klansman ''The Klansman'' (also known as ''Burning Cross'') is a 1974 American drama film based on the 1967 book of the same name by William Bradford Huie. It was directed by Terence Young and starred Lee Marvin, Richard Burton, O. J. Simpson (in his fe ...

'' and ''

The Outlaw Josey Wales ''The Outlaw Josey Wales'' is a 1976 American Revisionist Western film set during and after the American Civil War. It was directed by and starred Clint Eastwood (as Josey Wales), with Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke, Sam Bottoms, and Geraldin ...

''.

Personal life

Nash was married three times. Her first husband was

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

Philip Yordan Philip Yordan (April 1, 1914 – March 24, 2003) was an American screenwriter of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who produced several films. He acted as a front for blacklisted writers although his use of surrogate screenwriters predates the McCarth ...

, who introduced her to Hollywood's highest echelons. Nash's marriage to Yordan ended in divorce in the early 1950s. Her second marriage was to Dr. Donald P. Franks, with whom she moved to Oroville. Nash's third marriage to Mack Hill ended sadly with Hill's death. Nash was interviewed in the 2007 documentary, ''Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story'', directed by

Jeffrey Schwarz Jeffrey Schwarz is an American Emmy Awards, Emmy Award-winning film producer, director, and editor. He is known for an extensive body of documentary work including ''Boulevard! A Hollywood Story'', ''The Fabulous Allan Carr'', ''Tab Hunter Confi ...

, which focused on the life of her longtime friend,

William Castle William Castle (born William Schloss Jr.; April 24, 1914 – May 31, 1977) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Orphaned at 11, Castle dropped out of high school at 15 to work in the theater. He came to the attenti ...

. Her first husband, Philip Yordan, had introduced Nash to Castle during the 1950s.

Death

Marilyn Nash died on October 6, 2011, at the age of 84. She was survived by four sons and six grandchildren. Her memorial service was held at the St. Augustine of Canterbury Anglican Church in

Chico, California Chico ( ; Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 census, reflecting an increase from 86,18 ...

Filmography

References

External links

Interview with Nash from 1997
("Disc Features" on Criterion Collection of ''

''); accessed November 17, 2017. *
Family obituary
originally published in the

Chico Enterprise-Record The ''Chico Enterprise-Record'' is the daily newspaper of Chico, California. Also known as the E-R, the newspaper was first published in Bidwell Bar, California as the Butte Record in 1853 and is now part of the MediaNews Group corporation, who ...

2005 interview
i
The Astounding B monster
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Nash, Marilyn 1926 births 2011 deaths University of Arizona alumni American film actresses American television actresses American stage actresses American casting directors Women casting directors Actresses from California Actresses from Michigan People from Oroville, California Actors from Flint, Michigan 21st-century American women