Nancy Coleman

Nancy Coleman (December 30, 1912 – January 18, 2000) was an American actress whose work spanned film, stage, television, and radio. Born in Everett, Washington, she was the daughter of Charles Sumner Coleman, editor of The Daily Herald, and Grace Sharplass Coleman, an accomplished violinist. Coleman graduated with honors from Everett High School before enrolling at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she majored in English and joined the Alpha Lambda chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta. She was subsequently accepted into Columbia University's Teacher's College in New York but left without completing the program, relocating to San Francisco, where she worked as an elevator operator at a department store.

Her professional acting career began in radio, where she portrayed Alice Hughes on the soap opera Young Doctor Malone. She also appeared as the lead in the April 13, 1943 episode of Suspense, titled "Fear Paints a Picture." Coleman's stage work brought her to Broadway, where she performed from 1941 to 1969, appearing in Liberty Jones (1941), The Sacred Flame (1952), The Desperate Hours (1955), and Butterflies Are Free. Her work on the New York stage preceded her move to Hollywood, where she signed with Warner Bros. studios.

Among her notable film roles, Coleman played the mistress of a Nazi character portrayed by Helmut Dantine in Edge of Darkness, and she co-starred with Paul Henreid in In Our Time. She also appeared as Anne Brontë in the 1946 film Devotion, alongside Olivia de Havilland and Ida Lupino. Beginning in the 1950s, she transitioned increasingly to television, making guest appearances across various programs and playing Helen Emerson on the series Valiant Lady.

On September 16, 1943, Coleman married Whitney Bolton, a drama critic and publicity director. The couple remained married until Bolton's death in 1969. On July 13, 1944, she gave birth to twin daughters, Charla Elizabeth and Grania Theresa.