Nedda Harrigan

Nedda Harrigan Logan, born August 24, 1899, in New York, New York, was an American actress whose Broadway career spanned from 1919 to 1941. She was the youngest of ten children born to entertainer Edward Harrigan and his wife, Annie Braham Harrigan. Her grandfather was conductor David Braham, and her brother was actor William Harrigan. As a child, she occasionally appeared on stage alongside her father, and her formal early training in acting began at the National Park Seminary in Washington, D.C.

Harrigan's professional stage work began in earnest in 1918, when she served as leading lady in a San Francisco production of Common Cause. She subsequently worked in stock theater companies, among them the Woodward Players at the Majestic Theater in Detroit. She credited stock theater as a formative education, noting that the experience of performing repeatedly in different productions taught her the craft in a way that no formal school could replicate. Her Broadway appearances included the plays Treat 'em Rough, Merry Andrew, The Great Magoo, A Hat, a Coat, a Glove, and Ceiling Zero, among other productions.

In 1934, Harrigan departed New York for Hollywood, where she appeared in the Columbia Pictures film I'll Fix It. She returned to film work with The Case of the Caretaker's Cat in 1936, followed by Thank You, Mr. Moto in 1937 and Devil's Island in 1939.

During World War II, Harrigan played a central role in founding the Stage Door Canteen, which produced theatrical performances for servicemen. She also organized and led tours of productions to Europe to entertain troops, and her sustained commitment to the United Service Organizations earned her the USO's Woman of the Year award in the 1980s. Beyond her wartime contributions, she served as president of the Actors Fund, helped establish the Actors Fund Bloodbank, and was a trustee of the Museum of the City of New York.

Later in her life, Harrigan remained connected to the theater. In 1984, she served as production consultant for Harrigan and Hart, a stage production centered on the entertainment partnership her father had formed with Tony Hart. The following year, she performed alongside her husband, director and writer Joshua Logan, in An Evening with Joshua Logan, a retrospective of his directorial career. She had previously been married to actor Walter Connolly, with whom she had a daughter, before her marriage to Logan.

Harrigan died of cancer on April 1, 1989, at her Manhattan home at the age of 89. In her honor, the Actors Fund of America established the Nedda Harrigan Logan Award.