Hamilton, Nancy

Nancy Hamilton was an American actress, playwright, lyricist, director and producer. She worked in the New York theater from 1932-1954.

Nancy Hamilton was born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania on July 27, 1908, where she attended Miss Dickinson's School. She also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris from 1926-1927 and received a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College in 1930, where she appeared in and directed plays. She started her theatrical career writing, producing and acting in the revue, And So On in 1930. In the early 1930s she concentrated on her writing career and her articles and poems appeared in various newspapers and magazines. In 1932 she made her Broadway debut in The Warrior's Husband, playing a small role and understudying the leading lady, Katharine Hepburn. In 1934 she wrote songs for and appeared in the first New Faces revue. In collaboration with composer Morgan Lewis, Hamilton wrote lyrics and comic sketches for the popular revue, One for the Money (1939). In the 1930s Hamilton met the great stage actress Katharine Cornell and the two soon became lifelong friends. During WWII, Hamilton wrote the scripts for Billie Burke's radio show, Fashions in Rations. From 1944-1945 Hamilton was an assistant stage manager and understudy in Cornell's wartime company, performing The Barretts of Wimpole Street for servicemen in hospitals in Europe. In 1954 Hamilton and Lewis contributed a song to the Mary Martin vehicle Peter Pan, the score of which was primarily written by two other song-writing teams, Moose Charlap and Carolyn Leigh, and Jule Styne and Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Hamilton produced directed and co-wrote with James Shute, a documentary about Helen Keller, The Unconquered (1954), for which she won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. From 1959-1960, Hamilton accompanied Cornell on the national tour of Dear Liar. After Cornell's retirement, she and Hamilton lived on Martha's Vineyard, which was the subject of their 1971 documentary film, This is Our Island. Nancy Hamilton died in New York, NY on February 18, 1985.

From the description of Nancy Hamilton papers, 1912-1985 (Bulk dates: 1927-1972). (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 262693642