Happy fuzzy black and white memories of her and Sid Caesar on our living room TV. And yes, of course, happy Technicolor memories of her on the big screen with her great pipes singing Dietz and Schwartz.
THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX marked the adult film debut of Nanette Fabares, who subsequently changed her name to Nanette Fabray. Fabray played "Mistress Margaret Radcliffe," a lady-in-waiting in the court of Queen Elizabeth (Bette Davis) in the London of 1596. Errol Flynn played the “Earl of Essex,” in this 1939 film. Michael Curtiz directed the film, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold scored. In 1992, Bay Cities released a new recording of the score, by Carl Davis and the Munich Symphony Orchestra. Varese Sarabande re-issued the CD in 1998.
THE MIRACLE OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA takes place in 1917, when three shepherd children living just outside Fatima, Portugal have visions of a lovely lady in a cloud. Nanette Fabray had a small role as "Florinda" in the film. John Brahm directed this religious themed picture, which was scored by Max Steiner. Norman Luboff was the vocal arranger.
Nanette Fabray moved into a co-starring role in her next film, the 1953 Fred Astaire musical THE BAND WAGON. The film centered around the production of a Broadway musical, which goes awry when a pretentiously artistic director (Jack Buchanan) is hired and changes it beyond recognition. The show is to star "Tony Hunter" (Astaire), a dancing star whose movie career is in a slump. He returns to New York and meets with his old friends, writers "Lester Marton" (Oscar Levant) and "Lily Marton" (Fabray).
Screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green made the characters played by Fabray and Levant a married couple because they felt that the audiences would not accept a male/female writing team who weren't married to each other, even though the characters were based on Comden and Green, who were themselves not married to each other.
According to Fabray, Levant was very difficult to work with. Whenever something would go wrong and he would make a mistake, he would blame whoever was around instead of himself. This Included stage hands, other actors, lighting technicians, or whoever was handy. She said that, since she was usually closest, she caught the brunt of it. Following the scene where they shot the botched rehearsal of the musical, Levant blamed Fabray for something, and she lost her temper and told him off using unladylike language. Everyone on the set applauded her. After that he was much easier to work with.
The "Triplets" number was originally to be an all-male affair, performed by Astaire, Jack Buchanan and Levant, but when Levant (who was recovering from a heart attack) backed out because of health concerns, Nanette Fabray took his place.
During the "Louisiana Hayride" number, Fabray gashed her leg when she broke through the top of a prop crate she was standing on. She said that shooting the "Triplets" number, which was filmed later and where she was forced to kneel, was so painful that she had to take a large amount of pain pills. Here's that number:
Vincente Minnelli directed the picture. The film's soundtrack has had numerous releases over the year, with the Rhino Records release being the most complete. Three of the Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz numbers, which can be heard on the Rhino soundtrack CD, were deleted from the movie: "Sweet Music," sung by Nanette Fabray and Oscar Levant (although the melody is played in the background); "You Have Everything," danced by Fred Astaire; and "Got a Bran' New Suit," performed by Astaire and Nanette Fabray (with Oscar Levant on piano).
THE SUBTERRANEANS was a 1960 love story between two misunderstood new bohemians who don't even understand themselves. Fabray had a small role as a society woman in the film, which was directed by Ranald MacDougall, Fabray's husband at the time. (The couple was married from 1957 until his death in 1973.) Film Score Monthly released Andre Previn's score for the film in 2005.
During the 1950s, Nanette Fabray was a frequent guest star on network comedy-variety shows as a singer and comedienne. She had also appeared as a regular on "Caesar's Hour" from 1954 to 1956, winning three Emmys. Fabray left the show after a misunderstanding when her business manager, unbeknownst to her, made unreasonable demands for her third season contract. Fabray and Caesar did not reconcile until years later.
Master of ceremonies Phil Silvers (right) and Emmy winners from the East Coast hold trophies at the 1957 show: Edward R. Murrow (left), winner of three awards; Nanette Fabray and comedian Sid Caesar.
In 1961, Fabray began starring in her own network series, "Westinghouse Playhouse", also known as "The Nanette Fabray Show," "Westinghouse Playhouse Starring Nanette Fabray and Wendell Corey," and which ran under the title "Yes, Yes Nanette" in syndication.
Sponsored by Westinghouse, this half-hour domestic sitcom starred Fabray as "Nan McGovern," an actress who married a writer with two children from a former marriage. The story line closely paralleled Fabray's life, as she married writer Ranald MacDougall and inherited three children by MacDougall's former marriage. MacDougall created the show for Fabray.
Also featured on the series were Wendell Corey as Nan's husband, widower "Dan McGovern," a Hollywood writer; Jacklyn O'Donnell as Dan's daughter, "Nancy;" Bobby Diamond as Dan's son, "Buddy," and Doris Kemper as the housekeeper, "Mrs. Harper."
The show debuted in January 1961 on NBC, as a mid-season replacement for the canceled Brain Keith series "The Westerner." Fabray faced the same competition as did that show--top-30 entries from CBS ("Route 66" at #30) and ABC ("The Flintstones" at #18). The "Westinghouse Playhouse" couldn't compete and was cancelled after a single season of 26 episodes.
Nanette Fabray and Wendell Corey in "Westinghouse Playhouse"
THE HAPPY ENDING starred Jean Simmons as a bored Denver housewife who turns to drink. Simmons meets a college chum (Shirley Jones) from 1953 on a plane to the Bahamas as Simmons is running away from her boring boozy life. Jones is a happy party girl, approaching 40 and getting a little desperate herself. Jones is shacked up with Lloyd Bridges, playing the latest in a series of married admirers.
Back home, Simmons is abetted by a pill-popping cleaning lady (Nanette Fabray) who helps her thru her various crises with husband (John Forsythe), mother (Teresa Wright), and daughter (Kathy Fields).
Richard Brooks directed the 1969 drama. Michel Legrand's score was last released by Quartet in 2010.
Fabray's husband Ranald MacDougall wrote and produced a comedy western entitled "A Woman for Charlie." The film was originally devised as a “chapter” in NBC-TV’s “World Premiere” series of made-for-television movies. Dan Blocker, an actor best known for playing “Eric ‘Hoss’ Cartwright” on the NBC television program "Bonanza" was cast in the lead role of “Charley Bicker,” opposite Nanette Fabray, who played "Sadie," a bar girl at the local saloon. A bevy of other second-tier stars also appeared in the film: Mickey Rooney, Wally Cox, Jack Elam, Jack Cassidy, Henry Jones, Jim Backus, and others.
Beginning sometime in spring or early summer 1969, principal photography took place on the Universal Pictures studio lot in Studio City, CA. After completion of the film in July 1969, Universal decided it was good enough for theatrical release. Reportedly, the film was slightly revised before being re-titled THE COCKEYED COWBOYS OF CALICO COUNTY. The film opened in Los Angeles on 10 June 1970.
Tony Leader directed and Lyn Murray scored the [G]-rated film. The film was Dan Blocker's last before his death in 1972. He had appeared in 415 episodes of "Bonanza" beginning in 1959.
Nanette Fabray starred with Barbara Eden and Ronny Cox in the 1978 comedy HARPER VALLEY P.T.A.. In the film, the Harper Valley PTA disapproves of "Stella Johnson's" (Eden's) clothes and lifestyle, and threatens to expel her daughter "Dee" (Susan Swift) from school if Stella doesn't change her ways. Cox is "Willis Newton," one of the few board members supporting Stella. And Fabray plays Stella's friend, hairdresser "Alice Finley."
All but the last 2 weeks of filming were directed by Ralph Senensky. He left after expressing concern that the elephants in a carnival scene would be spooked on Halloween night, when a scene was scheduled to be shot. As it turned out, he was correct, and Nanette Fabray was injured. Production on the film temporarily ceased on 31 October 1977 after Fabray suffered a concussion that led to neurological and eye problems. Executive producer Phil Borack hired Richard Bennett to direct the remainder of the film, and he is the sole credited director.
On the Plantation Records soundtrack, 7 tracks of Nelson Riddle's score shared space with 6 songs from the film. The LP was re-issued on CD by Varese Sarabande in 2017.
I got to know Nanette Fabray on the Westinghouse Playhouse when I was a kid, and other than Betty White she was for me the absolute funniest human being who ever walked the earth. So sorry to hear of her passing -- she was a wonderful talent and a big star in my early years.
I got to know Nanette Fabray on the Westinghouse Playhouse when I was a kid, and other than Betty White she was for me the absolute funniest human being who ever walked the earth. So sorry to hear of her passing -- she was a wonderful talent and a big star in my early years.
Dana, being a bit older than you,I remember Miss Fabray from her appearances on Sid Caesar’s show. She also reprised her Broadway performance in High Button Shoes in an early color TV spectacular. They even released an LP of the score where she duets the infectious Poppa Won’t You Dance with Me. Also loved her in the Band Wagon singing the iconic That’s Entertainment.
Nanette Fabray. Betty White. Ok so I'm a bit younger than y'all and as a youngster-forward for me these two ladies were game show and TV panel folks supreme. There are others; Peggy Cass too comes immediately to mind. It's later that I came to appreciate their stage and movie roots. And appreciate them I have. "Nanette Fabray" seems like a name I've known for as long as I've been known. She was 97? Wow. She and Rose Marie sure were long-timers. Betty of course still is one. Amazing.
AMY takes place in the early 1900s, in Boston, Massachusetts, where, after the death of her deaf child, "Amy Medford" (Jenny Agutter) runs away from her wealthy husband, "Elliot" (Chris Robinson), to teach speech to deaf children at a rural school for the blind and deaf. Superintendent "Lyle Ferguson" (Lou Fant) warns Amy that she will face opposition from many people, including veteran teacher "Malvina Dodd" (Nanette Fabray), who believe that deaf children cannot learn to speak and can only be taught sign language.
Both Nanette Fabray and Louise Fletcher were interested in the role of “Malvina.” Fabray, who ultimately got the part, was hearing impaired, and Fletcher’s parents were deaf. During childhood, Fabray had difficulty in school due to an undiagnosed hearing impairment, which made learning difficult. She eventually was diagnosed with a hearing loss in her twenties after an acting teacher encouraged her to get her hearing tested. Fabray said of the experience, "It was a revelation to me. All these years I had thought I was stupid, but in reality I just had a hearing problem."
AMY was originally filmed as a television movie, and it was the first television movie that Disney Studios made for an adult audience. The more adult-oriented scenes included an affair between the characters “Amy Medford” and “Dr. Ben Corcoran,” played by Jenny Agutter and Barry Newman. Both characters were married to others in the original script, but Dr. Corcoran’s character was single in the version ultimately filmed. Walt Disney Productions felt the film was “so powerful” it warranted a theatrical release.
The 1981 film was directed by Vincent McEveety and scored by Robert F. Brunner.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned that Nanette Fabray was Shelley Fabares' aunt (whose last name is the actual family name but madamoiselle Nanette shanged when Ed Sullivan mispronounced it). She along with her niece appeared on "One Day At A Time" (sometimes appearing in the same episode).
In 1979 Fabray made her first guest appearance on the television sitcom "One Day at a Time" as "Grandma Katherine Romano," the mother of series star "Ann Romano" (Bonnie Franklin). She would become a semi-regular on the show, appearing in 49 episodes over the series' 5-year run.
Valerie Bertinelli, Nanette Fabray, and Bonnie Franklin in "One Day at a Time"
Fabray appeared as the mother of the main character on several other television series, including "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (two appearances as "Dottie Richards") and "Coach," where she played mother to real-life niece Shelley Fabares. That 1994 appearance on "Coach" was Fabray's last appearance on film, at age 73. She came out of retirement in 2005 to appear as herself on a "One Day at a Time" reunion show.
In 1987, Nanette Fabray received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. Decades earlier, in 1960, she had already received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6300 Hollywood Blvd., for her work in television.
Over a career that spanned 70 years, Nanette Fabray was a constant presence, turning up in a film here and making a television appearance there, not to mention her stage work. Comedy, drama, singing, dance, game show appearances--she did it all. Thanks for the joy, Nan.
Nanette Fabray publicity photo (1950)
Sid Caesar, Howard Morris, Carl Reiner, and Nanette Fabray in "Your Show of Shows" (1950)
Nanette Fabray (1957)
Nanette Fabray, William Shatner, and Sam Edwards in "Thriller" (1960)
Joey Bishop, Nanette Fabray, and Andy Williams on "The Andy Williams Show" (1962)
I have an original of this poster hanging in my den. As far as I have been able to tell, they all have the same mistake. Produced by Vincente Minnelli; Directed by Arthur Freed
I have an original of this poster hanging in my den. As far as I have been able to tell, they all have the same mistake. Produced by Vincente Minnelli; Directed by Arthur Freed
Wow. I didn't even notice that. But correct versions of the poster do exist. I don't know when the different versions were produced. They both carry the same National Screen Service number (53/404) in what appears to be the same lettering. Out of 25 images of the poster that I've looked at on an auction site, only 6 were of the correct version, and only one of the descriptions of the 19 incorrect ones even mentioned the discrepancy. When MGM re-released the film in 1963, the re-printed posters (with NSS # 63/219) were of the incorrect version. The auction prices of the poster don't seem to be influenced one way or the other due to the error.
