Nancy Carroll
Encyclopedia
Nancy Carroll was an American
actress
.
. Of Irish
parentage, she and her sister once performed a dancing act in a local contest of amateur talent. This led her to a stage career and then to the screen. She began her acting career in Broadway
musicals
. She became a successful actress in "talkies
" because her musical background enabled her to play in the movie musicals of the 1930s. Her film debut was in Ladies Must Dress in 1927.
In 1928 she made eight films. One of them, Easy Come, Easy Go, co-starring Richard Dix
, made her a star
. In 1930 she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress
for The Devil's Holiday
. Among her other films are Laughter
(1930), Paramount on Parade
(1930), Hot Saturday
(1932) with Cary Grant
and Randolph Scott
, The Kiss Before the Mirror
(1933) directed by James Whale
, and Broken Lullaby
aka The Man I Killed (1932) directed by Ernst Lubitsch
.
Under contract to Paramount Pictures
, Carroll often balked at the roles being offered to her and earned a reputation as a recalcitrant and uncooperative actress. In spite of her ability to successfully tackle light comedies, tearful melodramas, and even musicals, and as well as garnering considerable praise by the critics and public (she received the most fan mail of any star in the early 1930s), she was released by the studio. In the mid-1930s under a four-film contract with Columbia Pictures
, she made four rather insignificant films and was no longer an A-list actress.
in 1950. In the following year, she guest starred in the television version of The Egg and I
, starring her daughter, Patricia Kirkland.
For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Nancy Carroll has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 1719 Vine Street
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress
Acting
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
.
Career
She was christened Ann Veronica Lahiff in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Of Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
parentage, she and her sister once performed a dancing act in a local contest of amateur talent. This led her to a stage career and then to the screen. She began her acting career in Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musicals
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
. She became a successful actress in "talkies
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
" because her musical background enabled her to play in the movie musicals of the 1930s. Her film debut was in Ladies Must Dress in 1927.
In 1928 she made eight films. One of them, Easy Come, Easy Go, co-starring Richard Dix
Richard Dix
Richard Dix was an American motion picture actor who achieved popularity in both silent and sound film. His standard on-screen image was that of the rugged and stalwart hero.-Early life:...
, made her a star
Movie star
A movie star is a celebrity who is well-known, or famous, for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. The term may also apply to an actor or actress who is recognized as a marketable commodity and whose name is used to promote a movie in trailers and posters...
. In 1930 she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for The Devil's Holiday
The Devil's Holiday
The Devil's Holiday is a film which tells the story of a golddigger who marries a young man for his money, but finds that she really loves him and wants to keep him despite his family's disapproval...
. Among her other films are Laughter
Laughter (film)
Laughter is a 1930 film directed by Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast and starring Fredric March, Nancy Carroll and Frank Morgan.The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story.-Plot:...
(1930), Paramount on Parade
Paramount on Parade
Paramount on Parade is a all-star revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Victor Heerman, Lothar Mendes, Otto Brower, Edwin H...
(1930), Hot Saturday
Hot Saturday
Hot Saturday is Cary Grant's first movie as leading man. The movie was directed by William A. Seiter and based on a novel written by Harvey Fergusson...
(1932) with Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
and Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
, The Kiss Before the Mirror
The Kiss Before the Mirror
The Kiss Before the Mirror is a suspense film directed by James Whale, starring Nancy Carroll, Frank Morgan, Gloria Stuart, and Walter Pidgeon, and released by Universal Pictures.-Plot:...
(1933) directed by James Whale
James Whale
James Whale was an English film director, theatre director and actor. He is best remembered for his work in the horror film genre, having directed such classics as Frankenstein , The Old Dark House , The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein...
, and Broken Lullaby
Broken Lullaby
Broken Lullaby is an American drama film directed by Ernst Lubitsch and released by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay by Samson Raphaelson and Ernest Vajda is based on the 1930 play L'homme que j'ai tué by Maurice Rostand and its 1931 English-language adaptation, The Man I Killed, by Reginald...
aka The Man I Killed (1932) directed by Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch was a German-born film director. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as his prestige grew, his films were promoted as having "the Lubitsch touch."In 1947 he received an Honorary Academy Award for his...
.
Under contract to Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, Carroll often balked at the roles being offered to her and earned a reputation as a recalcitrant and uncooperative actress. In spite of her ability to successfully tackle light comedies, tearful melodramas, and even musicals, and as well as garnering considerable praise by the critics and public (she received the most fan mail of any star in the early 1930s), she was released by the studio. In the mid-1930s under a four-film contract with Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
, she made four rather insignificant films and was no longer an A-list actress.
Later years
Carroll retired from films in 1938, returned to the stage, and starred in the early television series The Aldrich FamilyThe Aldrich Family
The Aldrich Family, a popular radio teenage situation comedy , was also presented in films, television and comic books. In the radio series' well-remembered weekly opening exchange, awkward teen Henry's mother called, "Hen-reeeeeeeeeeeee! Hen-ree Al-drich!", and he responded with a breaking...
in 1950. In the following year, she guest starred in the television version of The Egg and I
The Egg and I (film)
The Egg and I is a 1947 film directed by Chester Erskine, who co-wrote screenplay with Fred F. Finklehoffe, based on the book by Betty MacDonald.This comedy was such a hit with audiences, it spawned the Ma and Pa Kettle film series...
, starring her daughter, Patricia Kirkland.
Death
On August 6, 1965, she was found dead after failing to arrive at the theater for a performance. The cause of her death was an aneurysm. She was 61 years old.For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Nancy Carroll has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 1719 Vine Street
Vine Street
Vine is a street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California that runs north-south from Melrose Avenue up past Hollywood Boulevard. The intersection of Hollywood and Vine was once a symbol of Hollywood itself...
.
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1927 | Ladies Must Dress | Mazie | |
| 1928 | Abie's Irish Rose Abie's Irish Rose (film) Abie's Irish Rose is a 1928 early talking film directed by Victor Fleming, based on the play of the same title by Anne Nichols. It tells the story of a Jewish boy, Abie Levy, who falls in love with and secretly marries Rosemary Murphy, an Irish Catholic girl, but lies to his family, saying that... |
Rosemary Murphy | |
| Easy Come, Easy Go | Barbara Quayle | ||
| Chicken a La King | Maisie Devoe | ||
| The Water Hole The Water Hole The Water Hole is a Western film starring Jack Holt, Nancy Carroll, and John Boles, based on a novel by Zane Grey, and released by Paramount Pictures.The film had sequences filmed in Technicolor, and was filmed in Death Valley, California.... |
Judith Endicott | ||
| Manhattan Cocktail Manhattan Cocktail (film) Manhattan Cocktail was a part-talkie film, directed by Dorothy Arzner, and starring Nancy Carroll, Richard Arlen, and Lilyan Tashman... |
Babs Clark | Lost film except for one-minute montage sequence by Slavko Vorkapich | |
| The Shopworn Angel | Daisy Heath | ||
| 1929 | The Wolf of Wall Street | Gert | |
| Sin Sister | Pearl | ||
| Close Harmony | Marjorie Merwin | ||
| The Dance of Life | Bonny Lee King | ||
| Illusion | Claire Jernigan | ||
| Sweetie | Barbara Pell | ||
| 1930 | Dangerous Paradise | Alma | Alternate title: Two Against Death |
| Honey | Olivia Dangerfield | ||
| The Devil's Holiday The Devil's Holiday The Devil's Holiday is a film which tells the story of a golddigger who marries a young man for his money, but finds that she really loves him and wants to keep him despite his family's disapproval... |
Hallie Hobart | Nominated for Best Actress Academy Award Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... |
|
| Laughter Laughter (film) Laughter is a 1930 film directed by Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast and starring Fredric March, Nancy Carroll and Frank Morgan.The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story.-Plot:... |
Peggy Gibson | ||
| Paramount on Parade Paramount on Parade Paramount on Parade is a all-star revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Victor Heerman, Lothar Mendes, Otto Brower, Edwin H... |
Herself | cameo appearance Cameo appearance A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television... |
|
| Follow Thru Follow Thru Follow Thru is a 1930 musical comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor. It was the second all-color all-talking feature to be produced by Paramount Pictures. The film was based on the popular 1929 Broadway play of the same name by Frank Mandel and Laurence Schwab. The play ran from January... |
Lora Moore | ||
| 1931 | Stolen Heaven | Mary | |
| Night Angel | Yula Martini | ||
| Personal Maid | Nora Ryan | ||
| 1932 | Broken Lullaby Broken Lullaby Broken Lullaby is an American drama film directed by Ernst Lubitsch and released by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay by Samson Raphaelson and Ernest Vajda is based on the 1930 play L'homme que j'ai tué by Maurice Rostand and its 1931 English-language adaptation, The Man I Killed, by Reginald... |
Fraulein Elsa | Alternate title: The Man I Killed |
| Wayward | Daisy Frost | ||
| Hot Saturday Hot Saturday Hot Saturday is Cary Grant's first movie as leading man. The movie was directed by William A. Seiter and based on a novel written by Harvey Fergusson... |
Ruth Brock | ||
| Scarlet Dawn Scarlet Dawn Scarlet Dawn is a 1932 romantic drama film starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Nancy Carroll as refugees from the Russian Revolution. It is based on the novel Revolt by Mary C. McCall, Jr.-Plot:... |
Tanyusha Krasnoff | ||
| Under-Cover Man | Lora Madigan | ||
| 1933 | Child of Manhattan Child of Manhattan (film) Child of Manhattan is a 1933 Pre-code Columbia Pictures melodrama film based on the play of the same name by Preston Sturges, which was presented on Broadway in 1932... |
Madeleine McGonegle | |
| The Woman Accused The Woman Accused The Woman Accused is a 1933 drama film about a young engaged couple on a sea cruise, starring Nancy Carroll and Cary Grant. The movie was directed by Paul Sloane.-Cast:Nancy Carroll ... Glenda O'BrienCary Grant ... Jeffrey BaxterJohn Halliday ...... |
Glenda O'Brien | ||
| The Kiss Before the Mirror The Kiss Before the Mirror The Kiss Before the Mirror is a suspense film directed by James Whale, starring Nancy Carroll, Frank Morgan, Gloria Stuart, and Walter Pidgeon, and released by Universal Pictures.-Plot:... |
Maria Held | ||
| I Love That Man | Grace Clark | ||
| 1934 | Springtime for Henry Springtime for Henry Springtime for Henery is a 1934 American comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Otto Kruger, Nancy Carroll and Nigel Bruce. It was based on a play of the same name by Benn W. Levy which enjoyed an eight month run on Broadway.-Plot:... |
Julia Jelliwell | |
| Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round | Sally Marsh | Alternate title: Keep 'Em Laughing | |
| Jealousy | Josephine "Jo" Douglas O'Roarke | ||
| 1935 | I'll Love You Always | Nora Clegg | |
| After the Dance | Anne Taylor | ||
| Atlantic Adventure | Helen Murdock | ||
| 1938 | That Certain Age That Certain Age That Certain Age is a 1938 Universal musical film directed by Edward Ludwig and written by Billy Wilder.-Plot:Alice Fullerton is the 15-year-old daughter of newspaper publisher Bill. She becomes involved with a group of boy scouts, who is led by Ken Warren. Ken wants to put on a show to raise money... |
Grace Bristow | |
| There Goes My Heart There Goes My Heart There Goes My Heart is a 1938 romantic comedy film starring Virginia Bruce as a wealthy heiress who goes to work under an alias at a department store owned by her grandfather. Fredric March plays the reporter who tracks her down. The film is based on a story by Ed Sullivan, better known for his... |
Dorothy Moore | ||
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1950–1951 | The Aldrich Family | Alice Aldrich #2 | Unknown episodes |
| 1951 | Faith Baldwin Romance Theatre | 1 episode | |
| The Egg and I | Betty's mother | Unknown episodes | |
| 1959 | The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen | Fanny Wilson | 1 episode |
| 1961 | Naked City Naked City (TV series) Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic "semi-documentary" format.... |
Bernice Hacker | 1 episode |
| 1962 | The United States Steel Hour | 2 episodes | |
| 1963 | Rockabye the Infantry | Hortense Tyler | Television movie |
| 1963 | Going My Way | Nora Callahan | 1 episode |
External links
- Photographs of Nancy Carroll
- Set of 91+ Nancy Carroll Portraits and Promo Shots
- CHILD OF MANHATTAN - A tribute to life and career of actress Nancy Carroll This website is exclusively about Nancy Carroll.