Noreen Nash
Noreen Nash | |
|---|---|
 Noreen Nash in The Southerner (1945) | |
| Born | Norabelle Jean Roth April 4, 1924 Wenatchee, Washington, U.S. |
| Occupation | Film actress |
| Years active | 1943–1962 |
| Spouse(s) |
Dr. Lee Edward Siegel
(m. 1942; died 1990) |
| Children | 2, including Lee Siegel Jr. |
Noreen Nash (born Norabelle Jean Roth, April 4, 1924) is a retired American film and television actress.
Early years
Nash was born on April 4, 1924, in Wenatchee, Washington. Her parents were Albert, who was in the beverage industry, and Gail Roth, a teacher.[1] Gail died in 1998 at the age of 99.[2]
Film and television career
Nash's career started in 1942 when she was crowned ”Apple Blossom Queen” in her home town.[3] With help from Louis Shurr, Bob Hope’s agent, she entered showbusiness and eventually got a contract with MGM as a showgirl.[4] She initially had declined, since she had planned to attend Stanford University. She had previously tested for Warner Brothers, but wasn't signed.[5] Her screen debut came in the 1943 musical film Girl Crazy, which starred Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. Her MGM contract lapsed in 1944.[1] In 1942, she worked as a model alongside Marilyn Monroe.[6]
A 1945 newspaper article reported Nash's being helped by actress Paulette Goddard. Goddard, the article said, was "sponsoring the career of shapely, brunette, blue-eyed and very beautiful Noreen Nash."[7] The article added that Nash's screen tests at Paramount Pictures were "arranged through the instigation of Paulette. As a result Noreen was signed to a term contract."[7]
Uncredited in her first movies, Nash eventually landed a role in director Jean Renoir's 1945 film The Southerner as Becky Devers. The film was nominated for three categories at the 18th Academy Awards in 1946.[8] During this time, she changed her screen surname to Nash, inspired by her father in the film, J. Carroll Naish. She and Renoir remained friends for the rest of his life.[9]
She appeared in films and television shows throughout the late 1940s and 1950s. Nash had leading roles in 1947's The Big Fix, about gamblers trying to rig a basketball game, and the crime drama Assigned to Danger (1948). She played a ranch owner in the Western Storm Over Wyoming (1950), and one of her most noted films was one about a ranch owner, Giant (1956), in which she played the small role of film star Lona Lane.[9] She had also been contracted to the British film studio Eagle-Lion.[6]
Some of the television series in which Nash appeared include Hopalong Cassidy, The Abbott and Costello Show and 77 Sunset Strip. She retired from acting in 1962.
Later life
Nash attended UCLA, majoring in history, after retiring from acting. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in 1971.[1] She published the novel By Love Fulfilled in 1980, which was about a doctor in the 16th century.[5] It was partly based on the Flemish anatomist and physician Vesalius. In 2013, she published another book titled Agnes Sorèl, Mistress of Beauty.[6]
Personal life
Nash married Dr. Lee Siegel on December 12, 1942, in Las Vegas, after only having known each other for little over a month.[5][10] They had two sons, Lee Siegel Jr.,[11] a novelist and religion professor, and Robert James Siegel, a cardiologist.[10][12] Dr. Siegel worked as a medical director at the film studio 20th Century Fox, died on May 7, 1990.[13] In 2001, she married actor James Whitmore, who died in 2009.[4]
Nash is a Democrat who supported the campaign of Adlai Stevenson during the 1952 presidential election.[14]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | Girl Crazy | Showgirl | Uncredited |
| 1944 | Meet the People | Showgirl | Uncredited |
| Maisie Goes to Reno | Good-looking girl | Uncredited | |
| Meet the People | Showgirl | Uncredited | |
| Bathing Beauty | Noreen - Co-ed | Uncredited | |
| An American Romance | Vaudeville act | Uncredited | |
| Mrs. Parkington | Bridget | Uncredited | |
| 1945 | The Southerner | Becky Devers | |
| Ziegfeld Follies | Ziegfeld girl | Uncredited | |
| 1946 | Monsieur Beaucaire | Baroness | Uncredited |
| 1947 | The Devil on Wheels | Sue Tanner | |
| The Big Fix | Ann Taylor | ||
| The Perils of Pauline | Uncredited | ||
| The Red Stallion | Ellen Reynolds | ||
| 1948 | The Tender Years | Linda | |
| Adventures of Casanova | Zanetta | ||
| Assigned to Danger | Bonnie Powers | ||
| The Checkered Coat | Betty Madden | ||
| 1950 | Storm over Wyoming | Chris Marvin | |
| Charlie's Haunt | Sally | ||
| 1952 | Aladdin and His Lamp | Passion flower | |
| Road Agent | Cora Drew | ||
| We're Not Married! | Girl in Hector's daydream | Uncredited | |
| 1953 | Phantom from Space | Barbara Randall | |
| The Body Beautiful | Laurie | ||
| 1956 | Giant | Lona Lane | |
| 1958 | The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold | Mrs. Frances Henderson | |
| 1958-1959 | Yancy Derringer | Agatha Colton | TV Series, 2 episodes |
| 1960 | Wake Me When It's Over | Marge Brubaker |
Television credits
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Fireside Theatre | "Going Home" | |
| 1952 | Hopalong Cassidy | Noreen Thomas | "Don Colorado" |
| 1952-1955 | Four Star Playhouse | Kathy/Leonora/Salesgirl | 3 episodes |
| 1953 | Your Favorite Story | "The Gold Bug" | |
| The Lone Ranger | Marianne Mornay | "A Stage for Mademoiselle" | |
| My Hero | Peggy Buchanan | "Cinderella's Revenge" | |
| Big Town | "The Big Cheat" | ||
| Ramar of the Jungle | Nancy Barton | "The Unknown Terror" | |
| City Detective | Louise | "The Rebel" | |
| 1954 | The Abbott and Costello Show | June Thomas | "Fall Guy" |
| 1955 | My Little Margie | Countess Louise DuBois | "Countess Margie" |
| 1955-1957 | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Mary Gerski | "Pattern for Death" "Ambitious Cop" |
| 1956 | Dragnet | "The Big Slug" | |
| It's a Great Life | Thelma Adams | "The Yachting Party" | |
| The Charles Farrell Show | Doris Mayfield | 6 episodes | |
| 1956-1958 | The Lineup | "The Vanishing Writer Case" "The Madcap McGee Case" | |
| 1957 | State Trooper | Cynthia Hayes | "The Dancing Dowager" |
| 1958-1959 | Yancy Derringer | Agatha Colton | "Fire on the Frontier" "The Belle from Boston" |
| 1959 | 77 Sunset Strip | Lisa Reynolds | "In Memoriam" |
| 1960 | General Electric Theater | Carol | "R.S.V.P" |
| 1962 | The Dick Powell Show | Woman #1 | "Crazy Sunday" |
Works
- By Love Fulfilled
- Agnès Sorel, Mistress of Beauty
- Titans of the Muses: When Henry Miller Met Jean Renoir
References
- ^ a b c "Once A Queen: "Noreen Nash" Remembers Queen Norabelle". Wenatchee World. May 2, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
- ^ "Roth, Gayle U". The Los Angeles Times. February 4, 1998. p. 245. Retrieved February 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Movies Beckon Apple Queen". Daily Capital Journal. March 17, 1943. p. 12. Retrieved October 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Noreen Nash". Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
- ^ a b c Parla, Paul; Mitchell, Charles P. (October 11, 2009). Screen Sirens Sceam!: Interviews with 20 Actresses from Science Fiction, Horror, Film Noir and Mystery Movies, 1930s to 1960s. McFarland. pp. 175–187. ISBN 978-0786445875. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
- ^ a b c "A Look Back: Noreen Nash". Sydney's Buzz. June 6, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
- ^ a b "Goddard Protege Gets A Break". The Brownsville Herald. July 1, 1945. p. 6. Retrieved October 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The 18th Academy Awards|1946", "Winners & Nominees" presented at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Los Angeles, California, March 7, 1946. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), Beverly Hills, California. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- ^ a b "Noreen Nash Interview". Western Clippings. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
- ^ a b Manners, Dorothy (December 15, 1970). "George C. Scott Gives Hint On Academy Award Feeling". Anderson Daily Bulletin. p. 9. Retrieved October 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "(Photo caption)". Southern Illinoisan. September 19, 1949. Retrieved October 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Stork Has Banner Year in Filmland - Stingy with Twins". cdt. December 24, 1945. p. 2. Retrieved October 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Lee E. Siegel; Beverly Hills Internist". The Los Angeles Times. May 10, 1990. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
- ^ Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers
External links
- Noreen Nash at IMDb
- Noreen Nash at the American Film Institute
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