Florence Nash Explained

Florence Nash
Birth Name:Florence Ryan
Birth Date:October 2, 1888
Birth Place:Troy, New York, U.S.
Death Place:Hollywood, California, U.S.
Resting Place:Woodlawn Cemetery, Santa Monica, California
Years Active:1907–1939
Relatives:Mary Nash (sister)

Florence Nash (née Ryan) (October 2, 1888 — April 2, 1950) was an American actress and author. She was sister to theater and movie actress, Mary Nash.

Early life

Florence was born to James H. and Ellen Frances (née McNamara) Ryan. She and her sister adopted the surname of their stepfather, Philip F. Nash, a vaudeville booking executive, who married their mother after the death of their father, a lawyer. Nash was Catholic and a lifelong Democrat.[1]

Career

She began her acting career in 1907 and had her first hit in 1912 as Aggie Lynch in Within the Law. She was a noted theater actor and comedian in vaudeville until the 1930s (appearing in sketches including In 1999), when she moved to Hollywood to try her luck with films. Her most notable role was as "Nancy Blake" in the 1939 MGM blockbuster The Women.[2] [3]

She also was the author of a book of verse, June Dusk, published in 1918.[4]

Death

After her retirement from acting in 1939, she spent the next decade living comfortably in Hollywood, California where she died on April 2, 1950. She was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica, California.

Filmography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Morning News, January 10, 1948, Who Was Who in America (Vol. 2)
  2. http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?id=54271 Florence Nash profile at IBDb
  3. New York Times, April 3, 1950, page 23, column 2, "Florence Nash, 60, Stage Comedienne; Retired Actress Who Scored First Hit in 'Within the Law' in 1912 Dies in Hollywood."
  4. Nash, Florence. June Dusk, and Other Poems. Publisher New York: G.H. Doran Company, 1918; accessible online here (accessed November 21, 2007)