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Nancy Hamilton
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Nancy Hamilton
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Nancy Hamilton

Nancy Hamilton (July 27, 1908 – February 18, 1985) was an American actress, playwright, lyricist, director and producer.

Early life and education

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Nancy Hamilton was born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania on July 27, 1908, daughter of Charles Lee Hamilton and Margaret Miller Marshall. She was educated at Miss Dickinson's School in Sewickley, at the Sorbonne, and received a B.A. from Smith College in 1930.[1]

At Smith, Hamilton was active in the theater and was president of the school's Dramatic Association her senior year. She caused a bit of a scandal at the college with And So On, a topical revue that she wrote and directed. Billy J. Harbin, Kim Marra and Robert A. Schanke, in their book The Gay & Lesbian Theatrical Legacy: A Biographical Dictionary of Major Figures in American Stage History in the Pre-Stonewall Era, wrote "She [Hamilton] had received special permission from the president of this women's college to hire men to play in the show's orchestra. On opening night the audience was scandalized when it was discovered that Hamilton had incorporated many of the men into onstage scenes."[2]: 180 

Career

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After a period of amateur acting and producing in Pittsburgh and Montclair, New Jersey, she moved to New York City in 1932 and leased a large apartment with an assortment of women friends. For a short time, she worked for Stern's Department Store and then for RKO Pictures as a spy who checked audience reactions and reported on vaudeville acts.[1]

Hamilton's initial venture into New York theater was as the understudy to Katharine Hepburn in The Warrior's Husband.[2]: 180 

She made her Broadway debut in 1934 in New Faces, appearing in the show and writing many of the lyrics. When it closed, she turned to play writing. She collaborated with Rosemary Casey and James Shute on Return Engagement, which was made into the film Fools for Scandal. During the next two years, Hamilton wrote radio scripts for comic actress Beatrice Lillie, Fred Astaire, and Lois Long, and published articles and poems in Stage Magazine and Harper's Bazaar.[1]

She wrote lyrics for three successful Broadway revues (a genre of musical theater that flourished in the 1930s):

  • One for The Money (1939) ran for 132 performances.
  • Two for the Show (1940) ran for 124 performances
  • Three to Make Ready (1946) ran for 323 performances.

These revues launched the careers of Alfred Drake, Keenan Wynn, Gene Kelly, Betty Hutton, Eve Arden, and Ray Bolger.[1]

In her book Stormy Weather: The Music and Lives of a Century of Jazzwomen, Linda Dahl quoted Hamilton as saying "The only way to get a show is to write a show."[3] Dahl added "The revues she wrote, chock-full of talented unknowns who later became stars, pulled in chic New York audiences."[3]

Hamilton is perhaps best known as the lyricist for the popular song "How High the Moon."[3]

In 1945, she spent six months with the American Theater Wing War Players touring the battle areas of France, Italy, Belgium, and Netherlands. In the mid-1950s, Hamilton produced Helen Keller In Her Story (also known as The Unconquered), a documentary on the life of Helen Keller, narrated by Katharine Cornell.[1]

Personal life

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Hamilton was the lifelong partner of actress Katharine Cornell.[2]

Death

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Hamilton died in New York City, February 18, 1985, after a long illness.[1]

Awards

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In 1955, Hamilton won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for Helen Keller in Her Story (1954),[4] becoming the first woman to win that award. The film was restored by the Academy Film Archive in 2006.[5]

References

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Nancy Hamilton

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Nancy Hamilton is an American lyricist, playwright, and actress known for her contributions to Broadway revues in the 1930s and 1940s, most notably as the lyricist and sketch writer for the intimate revues One for the Money, Two for the Show, and Three to Make Ready, often in collaboration with composer Morgan Lewis. She is particularly remembered for penning the lyrics to the jazz standard "How High the Moon," which debuted in Two for the Show and became one of the most recorded songs in popular music history. Born on July 27, 1908, in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, Hamilton began her career in theater during the late 1930s, establishing herself in the genre of smart, sophisticated revues that featured witty sketches and memorable tunes. One for the Money opened at the Booth Theatre in February 1939 and ran for over 130 performances, showcasing her talent for sharp, topical material. Her subsequent works continued this style, blending humor with musical sophistication and attracting notable performers of the era. In the 1950s, Hamilton transitioned to producing and directing, most prominently with the successful one-woman show An Evening with Beatrice Lillie, which highlighted her versatility behind the scenes. She remained active in New York theater circles until her death on February 18, 1985, in New York City, leaving a legacy tied to the golden age of American revue and enduring popular songs.

Early life and education

Family background and education

Nancy Hamilton was born on July 27, 1908, in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Charles Lee Hamilton and Margaret Miller Marshall. She attended Miss Dickinson's School in Sewickley for her early education. From 1926 to 1927, she studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College in 1930. While at Smith, Hamilton was deeply involved in theater activities; she served as Producing Director of the Dramatic Association Council, wrote songs and sketches, and acted in and directed plays, including a production of The Chocolate Soldier during her senior year. These experiences marked the beginning of her lifelong engagement with performing arts and creative writing. Following her graduation, she participated in amateur acting and producing in Pittsburgh and Montclair, New Jersey.

Early career

Move to New York and initial stage work

Nancy Hamilton moved to New York City in 1932, where she leased a large apartment that she shared with friends. To support herself during her early years in the city, she briefly worked at Stern's Department Store before taking a position with RKO Pictures, where she served as an audience spy monitoring reactions to vaudeville acts. Her initial foray into Broadway theater came as understudy to Katharine Hepburn in the 1932 play The Warrior's Husband, in which she also performed a small walk-on role. She made her Broadway debut in 1934 with the revue New Faces, appearing in the production while contributing lyrics to many of its songs. In 1935, she took the role of Miss Bingley in Helen Jerome's stage adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. During the mid-1930s, Hamilton wrote special material and radio scripts for Beatrice Lillie, Fred Astaire, and Lois Long. She also published articles and poems in Stage Magazine and Harper's Bazaar. Hamilton collaborated with playwrights Rosemary Casey and James Shute on the play Return Engagement, which was not produced on stage but was later adapted by MGM into the 1938 film Fools for Scandal.

Broadway revues

Major productions with Morgan Lewis

Nancy Hamilton began a fruitful long-term collaboration with composer Morgan Lewis in the late 1930s, producing a series of intimate Broadway revues for which she wrote sketches and lyrics while occasionally performing. Their partnership yielded three notable productions that showcased emerging talent and achieved respectable runs during a transitional period for the American musical theater. Their first revue, One for the Money, opened on February 4, 1939, at the Booth Theatre, where it ran for 132 performances until May 27, 1939. Hamilton contributed sketches and lyrics and also appeared in the cast alongside Alfred Drake, Gene Kelly, Keenan Wynn, and Brenda Forbes. The production provided an early Broadway showcase for Gene Kelly, helping to launch his career as a performer and dancer before his rise in Hollywood. The duo followed with Two for the Show, which opened on February 8, 1940, also at the Booth Theatre, and played for 124 performances through May 25, 1940. Hamilton again supplied sketches and lyrics for this revue, whose cast featured Alfred Drake, Eve Arden, Richard Haydn, Keenan Wynn, Brenda Forbes, and Betty Hutton. The show introduced the song "How High the Moon," which later became a jazz standard. It also aided in advancing Betty Hutton's career trajectory toward greater prominence. After a hiatus during World War II, Hamilton and Lewis reunited for Three to Make Ready, which opened on March 7, 1946, and achieved the longest run of their collaborations with 323 performances. Hamilton handled sketches and lyrics for the production, whose featured performers included Ray Bolger, Harold Lang, Gordon MacRae, and Brenda Forbes. During the war years, Hamilton contributed to wartime theater efforts, serving as assistant stage manager, understudy, and wardrobe personnel for Katharine Cornell's USO tour of The Barretts of Wimpole Street from 1944 to 1945, which performed for servicemen in European hospitals, and participating in a six-month 1945 tour in Europe with the American Theater Wing War Players. Material from these revues was later repurposed in compilations such as Three to One (1952) and the 1972 Off-Broadway production One for the Money, Etc.

Songwriting

Notable compositions and impact

Nancy Hamilton's primary and most significant musical collaborator was composer Morgan Lewis, with whom she formed a prolific partnership writing lyrics for songs featured in Broadway revues. She joined the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in 1940. Her most famous composition is "How High the Moon," written with Lewis for the 1940 revue Two for the Show, which became one of the most enduring jazz standards. The song has been widely recorded and performed by jazz artists across generations, securing its place in the Great American Songbook and earning a profile at the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Other notable songs from her collaboration with Lewis include "The Old Soft Shoe," "I Hate Spring," "The House with the Little Red Barn," "Lovely Lazy Kind of Day," and "The Old Gavotte." Additional compositions credited to Hamilton include "In My Kenosha Canoe," "My Day," "Barnaby Beach," "If It's Love," "Lazy Kind of Day," "I Only Know," and "Teeter Totter Tessie." These works, primarily from the 1930s and 1940s revue era, have demonstrated lasting impact through their influence on musical theater repertoire and occasional posthumous use in films and recordings that have kept Hamilton's lyrics in circulation.

Documentary production

Helen Keller in Her Story and Academy Award

In the mid-1950s, Nancy Hamilton transitioned to documentary filmmaking with the production of The Unconquered (also known as Helen Keller in Her Story), a biographical film about Helen Keller that she produced, directed, and co-wrote with James Shute. Released in 1954, the documentary combined archival footage with newly shot material of Keller in her seventies, capturing her personal life and public achievements. Katharine Cornell narrated the film. The documentary won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1955, marking Hamilton as the first woman to win in that category. She accepted the award in New York, expressing hope that the recognition would resonate with Keller's supporters worldwide. Later in her career, Hamilton produced the 1971 documentary This is Our Island, which explored the history, charm, and spirit of Martha's Vineyard through home movies and resident voice-overs, again narrated by Katharine Cornell.

Personal life

Partnership with Katharine Cornell

Nancy Hamilton was the lifelong partner of stage actress Katharine Cornell, with their relationship beginning in the 1930s after Gertrude Macy, Cornell's general manager, was impressed by Hamilton's impersonation of Eleanor Roosevelt in the Broadway revue One for the Money and arranged a meeting. Early in their partnership, Hamilton resided nearby at 411 East 51st Street in New York City (while Cornell lived around the corner at Beekman Place) and served as assistant stage manager and understudy during Cornell's wartime tours performing for servicemen in Europe during World War II. Cornell's marriage to producer Guthrie McClintic (1921–1961) is generally acknowledged as a lavender marriage, allowing both women to maintain discretion in their relationship amid the social norms of the era. Both were members of New York's discreet "Sewing Circle," a private network of lesbian and bisexual women in the theater community. Following McClintic's death in 1961, Hamilton and Cornell lived together full-time until Cornell's death in 1974, sharing Hamilton's apartment at 411 East 51st Street in Manhattan and a home on Martha's Vineyard known as The Barn in Tisbury. Cornell contributed to Hamilton's work by narrating her documentaries Helen Keller in Her Story and This is Our Island. Some sources note that Hamilton had a brief relationship with Katharine Hepburn after Cornell's death in 1974.

Later years and death

Final projects, retirement, and legacy

After the mid-1950s, Hamilton's professional activities significantly diminished following her work on the documentary The Unconquered (1954). She accompanied Katharine Cornell on the national tour of Dear Liar from 1959 to 1960. After Cornell's retirement, the two lived together on Martha's Vineyard, a period documented in their 1971 film This Is Our Island, which portrayed life on the island. Hamilton's later years were marked by a private existence, with limited public engagements after the early 1960s. She died in New York City on February 18, 1985, after a long illness. Scholarship has described her as "an important unsung figure of the twentieth century musical theater" who participated in a large network of women with overlapping professional and personal connections in the industry.
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