Saturday, May 10, 2014

TV Director and Actress Nancy Malone Passes On

Nancy Malone died 8 May 2014 at the age of 79. The cause was complications from a recent fight with leukaemia. Miss Malone was an actress who played Detective Flint's girlfriend Libby on the classic TV show Naked City, and also directed several episodes of various TV shows. In the Seventies she was an executive at 20 Century Fox.

Nancy Malone was born Ann Maloney on 19 March 1935 in New York City. She was only seven years old when she started a career as a model and appeared in print advertisements for such companies as the Ford Motor Company, Kellogg's, and Macy's. She was only 10 years old when she appeared on the 10th anniversary cover of Life as "the Typical American Girl".

 In 1950 she made her television debut in an episode of The Silver Theatre. During the Fifties she appeared in such television shows as The First Hundred Years, The Bigelow Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Armstrong Circle Theatre, The Alcoa Hour, Robert Montgomery Presents, Kraft Theatre, and Route 66. In 1960 she was cast as Libby on Naked City and appeared throughout the run of the show. During the Fifties she also appeared in the films Fright (1956) and The Violators (1957).

In the Sixties she was a regular on The Guiding Light from 1961 to 1963 and The Long, Hot Summer. She appeared on such shows as The Great Adventure, Dr. Kildare, 77 Sunset Strip, The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone, Run for You Life, The Fugitive, Bonanza, Tarzan, The Andy Griffith Show, The Big Valley, Hawaii Five-O, Marcus Welby M.D., The Flying Nun, and McCloud. She appeared in the films An Affair of the Skin (1963) and Intimacy (1966).

In the Seventies Nancy Malone appeared on such shows as Dan August, The Partridge Family, The F.B.I., Owen Marshall: Counsellor at Law, Ironside, Cannon, McMillan & Wife, Gemini Man, and Switch. She had a recurring role on Forever Fernwood. She appeared in the film Capricorn One (1977). In 1975 she produced the TV film Winner Takes All. During the Seventies she would go onto produce the TV movies Sherlock Holmes in New York; Handle with Care; and Like Mom Like Me. In 1976 she became the first woman to be vice president of television at 20th Century Fox. It was in 1975 that she founded  Women in Film, a nonprofit organisation devoted to advancing women in the film and television industries.

In the Eighties Miss Malone took up directing, her directorial debut being the television movie Merlene of the Movies (which she also produced) in 1981. She went onto direct episodes of such shows as The Colbys, Cagney & Lacey, Hotel, and Dynasty, as well as the television movie There Were Times, Dear (which she also produced). She produced the television movies The Violation of Sarah McDavid  and The Impostor. She appeared in the TV shows Lou Grant and Scene of the Crime.

From the Nineties into the Naughts Nancy Malone directed episodes of such shows as Knot's Landing, Sisters, Melrose Place, Picket Fences, Star Trek: Voyager, Diagnosis Murder, Judging Amy, and Teh Guardian.


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