Nina Olivette

Nina Olivette, born Elizabeth Margaret Veronica Lachmann on May 9, 1907, in Manhattan, New York, was an American actress and dancer who performed on Broadway between 1925 and 1928. She was also known professionally under the birth name Hildegarde Lachmann and was frequently described as a dancing comedienne. She died on February 21, 1971, at Polyclinic Hospital following a heart attack, at the age of 63.

Olivette came from a family with roots in both the performing arts and business. Her father, Edgar Lachmann, had been a cigar manufacturer in Germany before emigrating to the United States, where he became a vice president at Charles M. Schwab's steel company. Her mother, Kazia Prajinska Lachmann, had trained as a ballet dancer in Poland and later performed in vaudeville after arriving in the United States. As a child, Olivette participated in her mother's ballet troupe, but a leg injury that compromised her balance redirected her toward a style that blended dancing with comedy. She and Violet Carlson subsequently worked together in a vaudeville act billed as the Lachmann Sisters. At the age of 12, producers Jones and Green recruited her out of vaudeville for one of their productions.

Her Broadway credits included Music Box Revue, Queen High, George White's Scandals, The Sweetest Little Devil, Captain Jinks, and Hold Everything. The majority of her stage work was in comedic roles, and her first straight dramatic role did not come until Twin Beds in 1954. In a 1930 interview, Olivette described her comic dance routines as adaptations of established dances such as the Black Bottom and the Charleston, achieved by deliberately relaxing her muscles to create the impression of falling apart while performing. Her film career began with Queen High in 1930, and she later worked as a vocalist as well.

Beyond performing, Olivette pursued a career in design. She created women's fashion accessories including handbags, scarves, and stoles, and her work attracted a following among stage and television personalities. In the early 1950s she also served as a designer for the television program Your Show of Shows. In her personal life, Olivette was married to Harry Stockwell and was the stepmother of actors Dean Stockwell and Guy Stockwell.