Person
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 s…
Known for
Popular titles
Biography
A closer look
Read full 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.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
-
2014
Darcey Bussell: Looking for Audrey
Movie Self
-
2009
A Golightly Gathering
Movie Self
- 2006
-
1999
Out of the Cold
Movie Choreographer
-
1988
Sunset
Movie Choreographer
-
1985
Alice in Wonderland
TV show Choreographer
-
1982
The Stan Freberg Federal Budget Review
Movie Choreographer
-
1981
The Two Lives of Carol Letner
Movie Woman
-
1979
Ike
Movie Choreographer
-
1979
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Movie Choreographer
-
1978
Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women
Movie Choreographer
-
1973
The Third Girl from the Left
Movie Choreographer
-
1973
Trouble Comes to Town
Movie Choreographer
-
1969
Cactus Flower
Movie Choreographer
-
1969
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Movie Choreographer
-
1969
The Great Bank Robbery
Movie Choreographer
More credits
-
1966
Murderers' Row
Movie Choreographer
-
1966
Hawaii
Movie Choreographer
-
1965
Cat Ballou
Movie Choreographer
-
1965
I'll Take Sweden
Movie Choreographer
-
1964
The Young Lovers
Movie Choreographer
-
1964
I'd Rather Be Rich
Movie Choreographer
-
1964
Honeymoon Hotel
Movie Choreographer
-
1963
A New Kind of Love
Movie Choreographer
-
1962
The Lucy Show
TV show Miriam
-
1961
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Movie Harriet (uncredited)
-
1960
High Time
Movie Choreographer
-
1960
Visit to a Small Planet
Movie Choreographer
-
1957
Public Pigeon No. 1
Movie Choreographer
-
1957
The Restless Breed
Movie Choreographer
-
1956
He Laughed Last
Movie Choreographer
-
1955
Bring Your Smile Along
Movie Choreographer
-
1951
Lullaby of Broadway
Movie Choreographer
-
1950
Tea for Two
Movie Choreographer
-
1945
Masquerade in Mexico
Movie Party Guest (uncredited)
-
1945
Kitty
Movie Girl with St. Leger (uncredited)
-
1945
Duffy's Tavern
Movie Dancer
-
1944
Hail the Conquering Hero
Movie Tap Dancer (uncredited)
-
1944
Double Indemnity
Movie Keyes' Secretary (uncredited)
-
1944
Cover Girl
Movie Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
