A celebrated Hollywood actor by the name of Noreen Nash has passed away from natural causes at her home in Beverly Hills at the ripe old age of ninety-nine. The silver screen star had a two-decades-long acting career during one of the most glamorous times in Hollywood’s history. The beautiful actress, who was born in Washington State, had her death on Tuesday confirmed by her eldest son Lee Siegel Jr., who spoke to the Hollywood Reporter about his mother’s passing and confirmed that she had indeed died on Thursday for the publication.
Noreen Nash played several prominent roles during her time as a Hollywood actress. One of her most famous roles was as a Texan cotton farmer Becky Devers, who was the daughter of J. Carrol Naish’s character. Nash appeared in the 1945 drama by Jean Renoir that was entitled The Southerner. It was a popular movie in the Hollywood heyday of the 1940s.
More than a decade later, Nash, whose birth name was Norabelle Jean Roth, played an axe murderer. She stared as Frances Henderson, the killer, in the 1958 western by Lesley Selander called The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold.
Noreen Nash was a beauty during her Hollywood career and had blue eyes and dark hair. In addition to the roles listed above, she also appeared in a cameo in the 1956 film by George Stevens. She appeared as the often-glamorous Hollywood star Lona Lane in the movie from the 1950s, about a decade after the conclusion of World War II, for a scene about Lane’s involvement in the opening of the Emperador Hotel.
Nash conducted an interview with the Western Clippings website and said, “What I remember most is, by the time I got on that picture, director George Stevens and James Dean were at each other.”
She added, “Dean did his usual mumbling, and Stevens kept saying, ‘This script cost a lot of money. I want to hear those words!’ George didn’t like James’s style of acting!”
Nash first appeared in Hollywood movies after she was discovered at a restaurant in Hollywood called Brown Derby, which was frequented by celebrities. She was discovered by Bob Hope’s agent Louis Schurr not long after she was crowned Apple Blossom Queen at the tender age of eighteen.
After she was signed onto a contract with MGM as “Norreen Roth,” she appeared in several films like Norman Taurog and Busby Berkeley’s musical Girl Crazy. In Girl Crazy, Noreen Nash appeared alongside great actors like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, helping launch her career even further than she would have otherwise been able to go.
Noreen Nash retired from acting in 1926. She later earned a bachelor’s degree in history from UCLA in 1971. She then wrote a novel published in 1980 called By Love Fulfilled. She also co-wrote the 2015 book Titans of the Muses: When Henry Miller Met Jean Renoir.
Noreen Nash will be missed.
