Nancy Malone who starred her career as an actress, co-founder of Women in Film and then moved into the executive suite at 20th Century Fox has died. She was 78.
From the Hollywood Reporter:
Nancy Malone, an actress, TV director and Emmy-winning producer who co-founded Women in Film and was a groundbreaking female executive at 20th Century Fox in the 1970s, has died. She was 79.
Malone died Thursday at City of Hope hospital in Duarte, Calif., of pneumonia that arose from complications attributed to a recent battle with leukemia, publicist Harlan Boll announced.
Malone played Libby Kingston, the girlfriend of young detective Adam Flint (Paul Burke), in 51 episodes of
Naked City, the gritty docudrama that aired on ABC from 1958-63. She collected an Emmy Award nomination in 1963 for her work on the show.
The New York native won her Emmy (shared with Linda Hope and Don Mischer) in 1993 for producing the special
Bob Hope: The First 90 Years. She also earned two other noms for directing for the series
The Trials of Rosie O’Neill on CBS and
Sisters on NBC.
In 1975, Malone produced her first telefilm, NBC’s
Winner Take All, starring Shirley Jones, then joined Fox as director of TV development. Soon, she was promoted to vp television, putting her at an unprecedented level at a major studio.
Around this time, Malone co-founded Women in Film, the nonprofit organization dedicated to helping women advance in the entertainment, communication and media industries. In 1977, she was awarded one of the first Crystal Awards by WIF.
Malone was born March 19, 1935, on Long Island. She began her career at age 7 as a model and appeared in ads for Kellogg’s cereal, Ford cars and Macy’s. At 10, Malone was chosen for the cover of Life magazine's 10th anniversary issue, “The Typical American Girl.”
She appeared in one of TV’s first soap operas, CBS’
The First Hundred Years, and at 15 made her Broadway debut as the title character in
Time Out for Ginger, also starring Melvyn Douglas.
When she returned to New York after a year touring with the production, Charles Laughton chose her to play Jenny Hill on Broadway in George Bernard Shaw’s
Major Barbara.
In the 1965-66 ABC drama
The Long, Hot Summer, she starred as Clara Varner, the character played by Joanne Woodward in the movie on which the series was based.
Malone also appeared on such TV shows as
Bonanza, The Fugitive, The Partridge Family, Big Valley, The Rockford Files, Outer Limits, Dr. Kildare, The Andy Griffith Show, Hawaii Five-0, The Twilight Zone and
Lou Grant and worked opposite Burt Reynolds in the 1973 film
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing.
In 1975, Malone established Lilac Productions, which produced such telefilms as
Sherlock Holmes in New York (1976), with Roger Moore, Patrick Macnee and John Huston;
Like Mom, Like Me (1978) starring Linda Lavin; and T
he Violation of Sarah McDavid (1981), with Patty Duke.
In the 1980s, Malone completed the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women and then helmed the 1985 PBS telefilm
There Were Times, Dear, starring Jones and Len Cariou.
The first film about Alzheimer’s disease, it was used as a fundraiser by Alzheimer’s chapters around the country and raised nearly $3 million to combat the disease.
In 1985, Malone directed an episode of
Dynasty, after which she became a staff director at Aaron Spelling Productions and helmed installments of
Hotel, Melrose Place and
Beverly Hills, 90210.
For more:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/n ... tor-702851