About
Kathleen Nolan (born Joycelyn Schrum; September 27, 1933) is an American actress and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. From 1957 to 1962, she played Kate McCoy, a housewife, on the television series The Real McCoys.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Nolan first appeared on stage on the showboat Goldenrod when she was 13 months old. She acted on the showboat for 12 years. Her family acted in tent shows and had their own troupe, the Circle Stock Company. She graduated from high school in St. Louis and sang on a radio station there.
On Broadway, Nolan played Wendy in the original production of the Styne-Comden-Green musical version of Peter Pan (1954–1955), starring Mary Martin and Cyril Ritchard, a role she repeated in both the 1955 and 1956 live NBC-TV broadcasts on Producers’ Showcase. A 1960 version was produced for television broadcast, and converted to videotape, but it does not feature Nolan because she was then deemed too old. One of the earlier black-and-white versions, with Nolan’s revelatory, irrepressible performance, can be viewed by appointment at New York’s Paley Center. Both the 1955 and 1956 TV broadcasts can be viewed on DVD releases…
Awards & Recognition
Born On This Day
Bio and photo via Wikipedia, used under Creative Commons licensing.