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Miriam Nelson

Sep 21, 1922 - Aug 12, 2018 (95 years old) in

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.

Known For

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The Lucy Show
Miriam
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Breakfast at Tiffany's
Harriet - Party Guest in Gold Dress (uncredited)
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Double Indemnity
Keyes' Secretary (uncredited)
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Cover Girl
Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
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Duffy's Tavern
Dancer
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Hail the Conquering Hero
Tap Dancer (uncredited)
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The Two Lives of Carol Letner
Woman
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Kitty
Girl with St. Leger (uncredited)
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Masquerade in Mexico
Party Guest (uncredited)
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Breakfast at Tiffany's: The Making of a Classic
Self

Credits