Nancy Gates
Encyclopedia
Nancy Gates is a retired American film and television actress.
, entered acting at a young age, receiving a contract with RKO at the age of 15. Her first screen appearance, uncredited, was in the 1942 film The Magnificent Ambersons
. That same year she had her first credited role, in The Great Gildersleeve. In 1943 she went on contract with RKO, her first film with them being Hitler's Children that same year. She began receiving roles in mostly B-movies, many of which were westerns or sci-fi, eventually receiving lead roles as the heroine. In 1948 she starred opposite Eddie Dean
in Check Your Guns, and in 1949 she played alongside Jim Bannon
, Marin Sais
, and Emmett Lynn
in an episode of the Red Ryder
serial, titled Roll, Thunder, Roll. She would star in several other films over the next ten years, especially in westerns like Comanche Station
(1960), and in support roles, most notably in two Frank Sinatra
films, Some Came Running
and Suddenly
.
In total Gates starred or co-starred in 34 films and serials. She retired from acting in 1969.
appearances, to include roles on the television series' Maverick
, Gunsmoke
, Perry Mason
, Wagon Train
, and The Virginian
.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
.
Film
Gates, born in Dallas, TexasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, entered acting at a young age, receiving a contract with RKO at the age of 15. Her first screen appearance, uncredited, was in the 1942 film The Magnificent Ambersons
The Magnificent Ambersons (film)
The Magnificent Ambersons is a 1942 American drama film written and directed by Orson Welles. His second feature film, it is based on the 1918 novel of the same name by Booth Tarkington and stars Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Tim Holt, Agnes Moorehead and Ray Collins...
. That same year she had her first credited role, in The Great Gildersleeve. In 1943 she went on contract with RKO, her first film with them being Hitler's Children that same year. She began receiving roles in mostly B-movies, many of which were westerns or sci-fi, eventually receiving lead roles as the heroine. In 1948 she starred opposite Eddie Dean
Eddie Dean (singer)
Eddie Dean was an American western singer and actor whom Roy Rogers and Gene Autry termed the best cowboy singer of all time. Dean was best known for "I Dreamed Of A Hill-Billy Heaven" , which became an even greater hit in 1961 for Tex Ritter....
in Check Your Guns, and in 1949 she played alongside Jim Bannon
Jim Bannon
Jim Bannon was an actor in radio and Hollywood western films during the 1940s and 1950s. He is best remembered as the fourth cinema Red Ryder from 1949 - 1950...
, Marin Sais
Marin Sais
Marin Sais was an American motion picture actress whose career was most prolific during the silent film era of the 1910s and 1920s...
, and Emmett Lynn
Emmett Lynn
Emmett Lynn was an American film actor. He appeared in over 140 films between 1940 and 1956.He was born in Muscatine, Iowa, and died in Hollywood, California from a heart attack.-Selected filmography:...
in an episode of the Red Ryder
Red Ryder
Red Ryder was a popular long-running Western comic strip created by Stephen Slesinger and artist Fred Harman. Beginning Sunday, November 6, 1938, Red Ryder was syndicated by Newspaper Enterprise Association, expanding over the following decade to 750 newspapers, translations into ten languages and...
serial, titled Roll, Thunder, Roll. She would star in several other films over the next ten years, especially in westerns like Comanche Station
Comanche Station
Comanche Station is a 1960 American CinemaScope western film. This was the last of Budd Boetticher's late 1950s Ranown Cycle western films starring Randolph Scott.-Plot:...
(1960), and in support roles, most notably in two Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
films, Some Came Running
Some Came Running
Some Came Running is a novel by James Jones, published in 1957. It is the story of a war veteran with literary aspirations who returns in 1948 to his hometown of Parkman, Indiana, after a failed writing career...
and Suddenly
Suddenly (1954 film)
Suddenly is an American film noir directed by Lewis Allen with a screenplay written by Richard Sale. The drama features Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, James Gleason and Nancy Gates, among others....
.
In total Gates starred or co-starred in 34 films and serials. She retired from acting in 1969.
Television
She made 55 televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
appearances, to include roles on the television series' Maverick
Maverick (TV series)
Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...
, Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
, Perry Mason
Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, a defense attorney who was the main character in works of detective fiction authored by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason was featured in more than 80 novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial...
, Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
, and The Virginian
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Later life
She retired in 1969 to be closer to her family. She had married Hollywood attorney and business manager J. William Hayes. They had four children, including Hollywood producers Jeffrey M. Hayes and Chip HayesChip Hayes
Chip Hayes is an American soap opera writer, producer and director. He is married to actress Deborah Adair, with whom he has two adopted children...
.