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Noreen Nash

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Noreen Nash
Noreen Nash in The Southerner (1945)
Born
Norabelle Jean Roth

(1924-04-04) April 4, 1924 (age 100)
OccupationFilm actress
Years active1943–1962
Spouse(s)
Dr. Lee Edward Siegel
(m. 1942; died 1990)
(2 children)
(m. 2001; died 2009)
Children2, 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

  1. ^ a b c "Once A Queen: "Noreen Nash" Remembers Queen Norabelle". Wenatchee World. May 2, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  2. ^ "Roth, Gayle U". The Los Angeles Times. February 4, 1998. p. 245. Retrieved February 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  3. ^ "Movies Beckon Apple Queen". Daily Capital Journal. March 17, 1943. p. 12. Retrieved October 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ a b "Noreen Nash". Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ a b c "A Look Back: Noreen Nash". Sydney's Buzz. June 6, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Goddard Protege Gets A Break". The Brownsville Herald. July 1, 1945. p. 6. Retrieved October 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ a b "Noreen Nash Interview". Western Clippings. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  10. ^ 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. Open access icon
  11. ^ "(Photo caption)". Southern Illinoisan. September 19, 1949. Retrieved October 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  12. ^ "Stork Has Banner Year in Filmland - Stingy with Twins". cdt. December 24, 1945. p. 2. Retrieved October 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  13. ^ "Lee E. Siegel; Beverly Hills Internist". The Los Angeles Times. May 10, 1990. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  14. ^ Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers