Nancy Kelly

Nancy Kelly was thrice married with each of her marriages ending in divorce. Her first marriage was to actor Edmond O'Brien in 1941 which ended the very next year.

She tied the knot again in 1946 with director Fred Jackman but this marriage too was short-lived and the couple divorced in 1950.

She married for the third and the final time in 1955. Her third husband was theater director Warren Caro with whom she had a daughter. This marriage too unraveled with time and ended in 1968.

Nancy Kelly was born on March 25, 1921, in Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S. to Ann Mary "Nan" (née Walsh) and John Augustus Kelly into a family of Irish descent. She had three siblings including brother Jack Kelly who also became an actor. Her father was a theater ticket broker who later ventured into the real estate business and her mother was a silent film actress who groomed her children for the show business from an early age.

She was introduced to films as a child actress. Sweet-looking and charming, the little girl was quite popular. With her mother acting as her manager, Nancy had appeared in 52 films by the time she was 17. As a child model, she appeared in many different advertisements.

Blessed with a pleasant voice in addition to good looks, she worked extensively in radio as an adolescent. She voiced Dorothy Gale in a 1933-34 radio show, ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and played the ingénue on CBS Radio's ‘The March of Time’ series. Her vocal versatility allowed her to play male as well as female parts.

As a 17-year-old, she re-entered films as an adult actress in 1938. Her initial works as a young woman included ‘Submarine Patrol’ and ‘Tailspin’ in 1938, and ‘Stanley and Livingstone’ and ‘Jesse James’ in 1939. She received much appreciation for her acting in ‘Jesse James’ which was one of the year’s biggest hits.

In 1940 she starred as Valerie in the comedy film ‘He Married His Wife’ which was about a divorced man who plans to remarry his former wife. A black and white movie, it also had Joel McCrea, Roland Young, and Cesar Romero in the star cast.

Her string of successes continued throughout the 1940s with films like ‘Scotland Yard’ (1941), ‘A Very Young Lady’ (1941), ‘Parachute Battalion’ (1941), ‘Tornado’ (1943), ‘Women in Bondage’ (1943), ‘Show Business’ (1944), ‘The Woman Who Came Back’ (1945), ‘Follow That Woman’ (1945), and ‘Murder in the Music Hall’ (1946). Throughout her film career she also remained active on the stage.

With time, the talented lady evolved into a character actress from being the leading lady. Her best known film performance came quite late in her career. In ‘The Bad Seed’ (1956), she portrayed the role of Christine Penmark, a woman who discovers that her young daughter is actually a sadistic killer and thus turns suicidal. Her portrayal as an emotionally traumatized woman was much appreciated by the audience and critics alike.

During the later years of her career she was also active on television and played leading roles in ‘The Storm’ (1961) episode of ‘Thriller’ and ‘The Lonely Hours’ (1963) episode of ‘The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.’

Nancy Kelly is best remembered for her role as the suicidal mother Christine in the play ‘The Bad Seed’ which won her much acclaim and awards. She reprised the role in the film version of the play for which she earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.