Miriam Nelson

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 showbusiness 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 sevenyear actingdancing contract Ms Nelsons onscreen appearances included Lady in the Dark 1944 a straight acting role as Edward G Robinsons secretary in Double Indemnity 1944 and versatile dance work in Duffys 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 Nelsons first credited bigscreen choreography was on Blake Edwardss 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