Judy Nugent

Judy Ann Nugent (August 22, 1940 – October 26, 2023) was an American actress born in Los Angeles, California, to Carl Leon Nugent and Lucille Jane Redd. Her older sister, Carol Nugent, pursued acting as well.

Nugent began her screen career at age six, making her film debut in It Had to Be You (1947), in which she and her sister Carol each portrayed the same character at different ages. Early bit parts in film led to a regular role on The Ruggles (1949–1952), television's first family sitcom. Her film work continued through the mid-1950s with supporting roles in several dramas, among them Magnificent Obsession (1954), Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm (1954), in which she played one of the Kettle children, and There's Always Tomorrow (1956), all produced by Universal-International.

Television remained a significant part of her career. She played Jet Maypen in the Walt Disney Presents: Annette serial on The Mickey Mouse Club and portrayed Ann Carson, a blind girl who traveled around the world with Superman, on Adventures of Superman. Guest appearances followed on the ABC/Warner Brothers series 77 Sunset Strip and Sugarfoot, and she appeared as Willie Carst in the Rawhide episode "Incident of the Night Horse." Nugent also appeared in five episodes of The Tall Man as June McBean, with consideration given to developing a spin-off series centered on the McBean character.

She stepped away from acting after marrying actor Buck Taylor on March 18, 1961, though annulment proceedings were reportedly initiated within a month. The two married again on June 14, 1963, and remained together until divorcing in 1981. Their marriage produced four children: a daughter, Tiffany, and three sons, Adam, Matthew, and Cooper. During the 1970s, Nugent made cameo appearances in two independent film productions.

Nugent returned to the stage later in her career, appearing on Broadway in 1969 in The Penny Wars. She died from cancer on October 26, 2023, at her Montana ranch at the age of 83. She was predeceased by her son Adam, who died in a motorcycle accident in 1994 at age 27.