Nancy Carroll (November 19, 1903 - August 6, 1965) was an American actress. Christened Ann Veronica LaHiff in New York City, she began her acting career in Broadway musicals.
She became a successful talkies actress because her musical background enabled her to play in the movie musicals of the 1930s. Her film debut was in Ladies Must Dress in 1927.
In 1928 she made eight films. One of them, Easy Come, Easy Go, made her a star. In 1930 she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Devil's Holiday. Among her best films are "Laughter" and "The Man I Killed" (the latter directed by Ernst Lubitsch).
Under contract to Paramount studio, Carroll often balked at the roles being offering to her and earned a reputation as a recalcitrant and uncooperative actress. In spite of her ability to successfully tackle light comedies as well as tearful melodramas, and as well as garnering considerable praise by the critics and public (she received the most fan mail of any star in the early 1930s), she was released by the studio.
In the mid-1930s under a four-film contract with Columbia studio, she made four rather insignificant films and was no longer an A-list actress.
Carroll retired from films in 1938, returned to the stage, and starred in the early television series The Aldrich Family in 1950. In the following year, she starred in the television version of The Egg and I.
She was found dead of a heart attack after failing to arrive at the theater for a performance.
She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1719 Vine Street.
Recently, New York City's Film Forum has screened two of Carroll's gems -- "The Man I Killed" (also known as "Broken Lullaby") and "Hot Saturday." Her nuanced performances certainly justify the acclaim that she received when these two movies were first released.
