Miriam Nelson

Miriam Nelson

Birth : 1922-09-21,

Death : 2018-08-12

History

Miriam Lois Frankel was born in Chicago on Sept. 21, 1919, the only child of Daniel Frankel, a salesman who later produced nightclub shows, and Miriam Elizabeth (Bly) Frankel, a seamstress who went on to a show-business wardrobe department career. At 19 she made her Broadway debut, in Sing Out the News (1938), a musical revue, with June Allyson, whose songs included Sing Ho for Private Enterprise. In 1941, two weeks after Pearl Harbor, she married Gene Nelson, a fellow dancer and actor. They moved to Los Angeles, and good luck followed. Having lunch at Paramount one day with a friend, she ran into a New York pal and came home with a seven-year acting-dancing contract. Ms. Nelson’s onscreen appearances included Lady in the Dark (1944), a straight acting role as Edward G. Robinson’s secretary in Double Indemnity (1944) and versatile dance work in Duffy’s Tavern (1945). After the Nelsons divorced in 1956, she took up choreography full time. Her television projects included The Red Skelton Hour, Father Knows Best, The Lucy Show, The Love Boat and Murder, She Wrote. Ms. Nelson’s first credited big-screen choreography was on Blake Edwards’s He Laughed Last (1956), a crime comedy about a chorus girl. Her final screen credit was Out of the Cold, a romantic drama starring Keith Carradine, released on DVD in 2001.

Profile

Miriam Nelson

Movies

Darcey Bussell's Looking for Audrey
Herself
Behind Audrey Hepburn's dazzling image, Darcey Bussell unravels an epic tale of betrayal, courage, heartache and broken dreams. For as long as she can remember Darcey has been fascinated by Audrey Hepburn: style icon, star of Breakfast at Tiffany's, an Oscar winner at 24. Now, Darcey follows in Audrey's footsteps through Holland, London, Rome, Switzerland and Hollywood to find out more. She discovers Audrey started out as a dancer, risked her life in the war and, although adored the world over, was always looking for love.
A Golightly Gathering
Self
A Golightly Gathering reunites the players of the cocktail party sequence of Breakfast at Tiffany's It features the surviving actors that appeared in the cocktail party sequence of that iconic movie while having their like-minded reunion some 48 years later.
Breakfast at Tiffany's: The Making of a Classic
Self
A behind-the-scenes look at the making of "Breakfast at Tiffany's".
Out of the Cold
Choreographer
An American entertainer and an Estonian woman are torn apart by hate and prejudice.
Sunset
Choreographer
Tom Mix and Wyatt Earp team up to solve a murder at the Academy Awards in 1929 Hollywood.
The Two Lives of Carol Letner
Woman
A former call-girl who has left the profession behind to pursue a college career is recruited by the police to turn one more trick in order to trap the person laundering syndicate money.
Ike
Choreographer
Eisenhower the military man is the focus of this mini-series, his relationships with the other wartime leaders, and, very discreetly, his personal relationship with his driver, Kay Summersby.
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Choreographer
Capt. William "Buck" Rogers is a jovial space cowboy who is accidentally time-warped from 1987 to 2491. Earth is engaged in interplanetary war following a global holocaust, and Buck's piloting skills make him an ideal starfighter recruit for the Earth Defense Directorate, where his closest colleagues are Dr. Huer (Tim O'Connor), squadron leader Col. Wilma Deering (former model Erin Gray), the wisecracking robot Twiki (voiced by cartoon legend Mel Blanc), and a portable computer-brain named Dr. Theopolis.
Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women
Choreographer
Four women intimate with the showman tell his life story.
The Third Girl from the Left
Choreographer
A chorus girl comes to the realization that she is not getting any younger and that her longtime relationship with a nightclub singer is going nowhere. She finds herself attracted to an unassuming but attentive--and much younger--delivery boy.
Trouble Comes to Town
Choreographer
A Southern sheriff brings into his home a black juvenile delinquent, who is the son of the man who saved his life during the Korean War.
Cactus Flower
Choreographer
Distraught when her middle-aged lover breaks a date with her, 21-year-old Toni Simmons attempts suicide. Impressed by her action, her lover, dentist Julian Winston reconsiders marrying Toni, but he worries about her insistence on honesty. Having fabricated a wife and three children, Julian readily accepts when his devoted nurse, Stephanie, who has secretly loved Julian for years, offers to act as his wife and demand a divorce.
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Choreographer
Bob and Carol Sanders are best friends with Ted and Alice Henderson. After attending a weekend self-help/ self-discovery getaway, Bob and Carol feel newly enlightened, and want their friends to feel the same way.
The Great Bank Robbery
Choreographer
A motley group of phony church leaders attempts to rob a bank controlled by brothers in 1880's Texas.
Murderers' Row
Choreographer
The handsome top agent Matt dies a tragic death in his bath tub - the women mourn about the loss. However it's just faked for his latest top-secret mission: He shall find Dr. Solaris, inventor of the Helium laser beam, powerful enough to destroy a whole continent. It seems Dr. Solaris has been kidnapped by a criminal organization. The trace leads to the Cote D'Azur.
Hawaii
Choreographer
Abner Hale, a rigid and humorless New England missionary, marries the beautiful Jerusha Bromley and takes her to the exotic island kingdom of Hawaii, intent on converting the natives. But the clash between the two cultures is too great and instead of understanding there comes tragedy.
Cat Ballou
Choreographer
A woman seeking revenge for her murdered father hires a famous gunman, but he's very different from what she expects.
I'll Take Sweden
Choreographer
Bob Holcomb will do anything to stop his daughter JoJo from tying the knot with her lazy boyfriend, even move her all the way to Sweden! But once they're "safely" out of the country, JoJo falls for a sly Swedish playboy.
The Young Lovers
Choreographer
A carefree college student has to face up to responsibility when his girlfriend announces she's pregnant.
I'd Rather Be Rich
Choreographer
An updated remake of It Started With Eve (1941). A young heiress is summoned to the bedside of her dying grandfather. The man's last wish is to meet her fiance, but problems arise when the fiance is delayed and a young chemical engineer is persuaded to take his place. When the grandfather suddenly (and secretly) recovers, he uses the situation to his advantage - playing matchmaker in an attempt to ensure his granddaughter's happiness.
Honeymoon Hotel
Choreographer
A man left at the alter goes on his honeymoon trip anyway, taking his best man along instead.
A New Kind of Love
Choreographer
A down-and-out reporter and a fashion designer fall in love in Paris.
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Harriet - Party Guest in Gold Dress (uncredited)
Holly Golightly is an eccentric New York City playgirl determined to marry a Brazilian millionaire. But when young writer Paul Varjak moves into her apartment building, her past threatens to get in their way.
High Time
Choreographer
Despite the dissapproval of his grown son and daughter, 51 year old widdower and wealthy restauranteur Harvey Howard (Bing Crosby) decides it's 'high time' to he gets his college degree. And he's in for the full ride: living in the dorms, joing a fraternity, falling in love, and even getting some studying in.
The Apartment
Choreographer
Bud Baxter is a minor clerk in a huge New York insurance company, until he discovers a quick way to climb the corporate ladder. He lends out his apartment to the executives as a place to take their mistresses. Although he often has to deal with the aftermath of their visits, one night he's left with a major problem to solve.
Visit to a Small Planet
Choreographer
The weirdest alien of the galaxy pays a visit to Earth... Jerry Lewis is Kreton, a childish alien who, against his teacher's will leaves his planet to visit the Earth, and lands in the backyard of a famous television journalist who doesn't believe in UFOs and aliens. Wanting to study humans but not able to fully understand them, Kreton makes a mess out of it, generating a lot of comic situations.
Public Pigeon No. 1
Choreographer
Swindlers con a lunchroom clerk into doing them a favor, supposedly on behalf of the FBI.
The Restless Breed
Choreographer
Texas-border gunrunners kill a federal agent, whose son comes looking for revenge.
He Laughed Last
Choreographer
A 1920s chorus girl inherits a slain gangster's empire.
Bring Your Smile Along
Choreographer
Nancy Willows (Constance Towers), pretty blonde high school teacher, writes song lyrics which spark the careers of struggling young pianist-composer Martin Adams (Keefe Brasselle')and would-be singer Jerry Dennis (Frankie Laine). When Nancy and Martin fall in love but quarrel over her old flame, David Parker (William Leslie), Nancy returns to her teaching job. Jerry reunites Nancy and Martin and, in turn, succumbs to the charms of his new secretary Marge Stevenson (Lucy Marlow).
Lullaby of Broadway
Choreographer
Pretty Melinda Howard has been abroad singing with a musical troupe. She decides to return home to surprise her mother whom she thinks is a successful Broadway star with a mansion in Manhattan. She doesn't know that her mother is actually a burnt-out cabaret singer with a love for whiskey. When she arrives at the mansion, she is taken in by the two servants who are friends of her mother's. The house actually belongs to Adolph Hubbell, a kind-hearted Broadway producer who also gets drawn into the charade. Hubbell takes a shine to Melinda and agrees to star her in his next show. Melinda also finds romance with a handsome hoofer who's also in the show. All is going well for Melinda except that she wants to see her mother who keeps putting off their reunion.
Tea for Two
Choreographer
In this reworking of "No, No, Nanette," wealthy heiress Nanette Carter bets her uncle $25,000 that she can say "no" to everything for 48 hours. If she wins, she can invest the money in a Broadway show featuring songs written by her beau, and of course, in which she will star. Trouble is, she doesn't realize her uncle's been wiped out by the Stock Market crash.
Masquerade in Mexico
Choreographer
An American singer stranded in Mexico is hired by a banker to distract a Mexican matador who is making a play for the banker's wife. They hatch a scheme whereby she pretends to be a Spanish countess.
Masquerade in Mexico
Party Guest (uncredited)
An American singer stranded in Mexico is hired by a banker to distract a Mexican matador who is making a play for the banker's wife. They hatch a scheme whereby she pretends to be a Spanish countess.
Kitty
Girl with St. Leger (uncredited)
Pickpocket Kitty's life changes when painter Thomas Gainsborough makes her portrait. The artwork gains the attention of Sir Hugh Marcy, who later decides to use her for his benefit.
Duffy's Tavern
Dancer
The staff of a record factory drown their sorrows at Duffy's Tavern, while the company owner faces threats of bankruptcy.
Hail the Conquering Hero
Tap Dancer
Having been discharged from the Marines for a hayfever condition before ever seeing action, Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith delays the return to his hometown, feeling that he is a failure. While in a moment of melancholy, he meets up with a group of Marines who befriend him and encourage him to return home to his mother by fabricating a story that he was wounded in battle with honorable discharge.
Double Indemnity
Keyes' Secretary (uncredited)
A rich woman and a calculating insurance agent plot to kill her unsuspecting husband after he signs a double indemnity policy. Against a backdrop of distinctly Californian settings, the partners in crime plan the perfect murder to collect the insurance, which pays double if the death is accidental.
Cover Girl
Specialty Dancer
A nightclub dancer makes it big in modeling, leaving her dancer boyfriend behind.
Let's Face It
Dancer
A soldier stationed on an army base and his fiancé, who runs a women's "fat farm" nearby, want to get married but don't have enough money. Three customers of the "fat farm" scheme to get back at their philandering husbands by hiring the soldier and two of his buddies as "escorts" for the weekend. Complications ensue when the husbands show up unexpectedly.