Nancy Carroll
| Nancy Carroll | |
 Nancy Carroll | |
| Background information | |
| Born as: | Ann Veronica Lahiff |
| Born | Nov 19, 1903 New York City, NY |
| Died | Aug 06 , 1965 - at age 62 New York City, U.S. aneurysm |
| Spouse(s): | Jack Kirkland
(1924 - 1931) divorce Francis Bolton Mallory (1931 - 1935) divorce C.H. "Jappe" Groen (1953 - ) |
Nancy Carroll (born Ann Veronica Lahiff; November 19, 1903 – August 6, 1965) was an American actress. She started her career in Broadway musicals and then became an actress in sound films, and was in many films from 1927 to 1938. She was then in television roles from 1950 to 1963. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960.
Early years
Carroll, who is of Irish descent and the daughter of Thomas and Ann Lahiff, was born in New York City. She received her education at Holy Trinity School in New York; however, she departed from there at 16 to pursue a career as a stenographer in the office of a lace manufacturer. (Another source indicates that she left the eighth grade at 14 "to go on the stage".) She was the seventh of twelve children. Although her parents had originally named her Ann, she remarked, "... finally I demanded that I be called Nancy, and they agreed it suited me."
Carroll and her sister "worked up a little specialty number" and auditioned for the Shuberts, resulting in their performance in a show.
Career
Carroll's career began in 1923 when she performed in the chorus of The Passing Show in New York. She started her acting career in Broadway musicals. Although she initially wanted to be a character actress, she said, "But the moment I took off my hat, and that's the first thing a manager asks you to do when you go to apply for a job — every manager without exception would say: 'You must go into musical comedy. You're just the type. No chance for you in a dramatic production.'" She became a successful actress in sound films because her musical background enabled her to perform in movie musicals of the 1930s. Her film debut was in Ladies Must Dress in 1927. Carroll's early experience included work in "second-rate road companies" and the portrayal of "Roxie Hart" in the Los Angeles production of Chicago.
In 1928, she made eight films. One of them, Easy Come, Easy Go, co-starring Richard Dix, launched her into stardom. In 1929, she starred in The Dance of Life with Hal Skelly and The Wolf of Wall Street alongside George Bancroft and Olga Baclanova. She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in 1930 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 with Paramount Pictures, Carroll often resisted the roles the studio offered her, earning a reputation as a recalcitrant and uncooperative actress. Despite her ability to successfully tackle light comedies, tearful melodramas, and even musicals—along with considerable praise from critics and the public (she received the most fan mail of any star in the early 1930s)—she was released from her contract 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 considered an A-list actress.
Carroll retired from films in 1938, returned to the stage, and starred as the mother in the early television series The Aldrich Family in 1950. In the following year, she guest-starred in the television version of The Egg and I, which starred her daughter, Patricia Kirkland.
Personal life and death
Carroll's first husband was author Jack Kirkland. They were married seven years and divorced in 1931. Also in 1931 she married educator Francis Bolton Mallory. They were together for three years and separated for three years before they were divorced. She was married to C. H. J. Groen, a manufacturer of fiberglass. 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.
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Carroll has a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1725 Vine Street for her contributions to the film industry. The star was dedicated on February 8, 1960.
Filmography
- Wikipedia article: Nancy Carroll Filmography
External links
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Nancy_Carroll ]
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