Known For
Crew
Born
Sep 21, 1922
Died
Aug 12, 2018
Credits
41 titles
Miriam Nelson
Biography
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
Filmography
Darcey Bussell: Looking for Audrey
Self
A Golightly Gathering
Self
Breakfast at Tiffany's: The Making of a Classic
Self
Out of the Cold
Choreographer
Sunset
Choreographer
Alice in Wonderland
Choreographer
The Stan Freberg Federal Budget Review
Choreographer
The Two Lives of Carol Letner
Woman
Ike
Choreographer
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Choreographer
Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women
Choreographer
The Third Girl from the Left
Choreographer
Trouble Comes to Town
Choreographer
Cactus Flower
Choreographer
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Choreographer
The Great Bank Robbery
Choreographer
Murderers' Row
Choreographer
Hawaii
Choreographer
Cat Ballou
Choreographer
I'll Take Sweden
Choreographer
The Young Lovers
Choreographer
I'd Rather Be Rich
Choreographer
Honeymoon Hotel
Choreographer
A New Kind of Love
Choreographer
The Lucy Show
Miriam
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Harriet (uncredited)
High Time
Choreographer
Visit to a Small Planet
Choreographer
Public Pigeon No. 1
Choreographer
The Restless Breed
Choreographer
He Laughed Last
Choreographer
Bring Your Smile Along
Choreographer
Lullaby of Broadway
Choreographer
Tea for Two
Choreographer
Masquerade in Mexico
Party Guest (uncredited)
Kitty
Girl with St. Leger (uncredited)
Duffy's Tavern
Dancer
Hail the Conquering Hero
Tap Dancer (uncredited)
Double Indemnity
Keyes' Secretary (uncredited)
Cover Girl
Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
Let's Face It
Dancer