American actress (1909–1989)
Nell O'Day
Born (1909-09-22 ) September 22, 1909Died January 5, 1989(1989-01-05) (aged 79)[ 1] Occupation Actress Years active 1926–1957 Spouses
Larry Williams
(
m. 1942;
div. 1958)
[ 2]
Nell O'Day (September 22, 1909 – January 5, 1989) was an accomplished American equestrian and B-movie actress of the 1930s and 1940s.
Biography
O'Day was born in Prairie Hill, Texas . Her father was an official with a railroad. Her first work as a professional entertainer was as a vaudeville dancer.[ 3]
She had her first screen roles in the 1920s as a teenager .[citation needed ] In 1930, she portrayed Maribelle Fordyce in the Broadway musical Fine and Dandy .[ 4] Her first starring role was in 1932 when she starred in Rackety Rax opposite Victor McLaglen and Greta Nissan . From 1933 through 1940 she starred in nineteen films, with only a small number of those being western films . Starting in 1941 she began starring in roles placing her as the heroine in westerns, often opposite Johnny Mack Brown , Ray "Crash" Corrigan , Max Terhune , and John 'Dusty' King .
O'Day's other Broadway credits included Many Mansions (1937), One for the Money (1939), and Many Happy Returns (1945).[ 4]
In 1942 she starred as the heroine in several cliffhanger episodes of Perils of the Royal Mounted . In 1943, under contract with Republic Pictures , she began starring in the Three Mesquiteers film series, alongside Bob Steele , Tom Tyler and Jimmie Dodd . Her last starring western role was in 1943, in the film Boss of Rawhide , opposite Dave O'Brien . She made one more movie, a non-western, in 1946 when she starred in The Story of Kenneth W. Randall M.D. , but concentrated mostly on writing screenplays and stage plays.
She spent the rest of her life writing for stage and screen. She died of a heart attack on January 5, 1989, in Los Angeles, California .
Partial filmography
References
External links
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Nell O'Day .