Background

Fabray was born on October 27, 1920 in San Diego, California, United States; the daughter of Raoul Bernard Fabares and Lillian (McGovern) Fabares..

Education

Fabray attended the Max Reinhardt School of the Theatre on a scholarship. In 1939, she graduated from Hollywood High School. In the fall of 1939 she entered Los Angeles Junior College, but did not do well and withdrew a few months later.

Career

Fabray made her professional stage debut as "Miss New Years Eve 1923" at the Million Dollar Theater. Her film debut was in the romantic drama film "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex" in 1939. Then she appeared in two films for Warner Bros., including "The Monroe Doctrine" and "A Child Is Born". In 1940, Nanette performed in the stage production "Meet the People" in Los Angeles, which then toured the United States from 1940 to 1941. There she sang the opera aria "Caro nome", while tap dancing.

She became a successful musical-theatre actress in New York during the 1940s and early 1950s, starring in such productions as "By Jupiter", 1942, "My Dear Public", 1943, "Jackpot", 1944, "Bloomer Girl", 1946, "High Button Shoes", 1947, "Arms and the Girl", 1950 and "Make a Wish", 1951.

In the mid-1940s, she worked regularly for NBC on a variety of programs in the Los Angeles area. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Fabray made her first high-profile national television appearances performing on a number of variety programs, including The Ed Sullivan Show, Texaco Star Theatre and The Arthur Murray Party. She appeared as a regular in a sketch-comedy television program "Caesar's Hourfrom" from 1954 to 1956. In 1961, Nanette starred in 26 episodes of Westinghouse Playhouse.

In addition, she went on to four decades of television movies and guest appearances on such series as "Love, American Style", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", "One Day at a Time" and sitcom "Coach”, 1990, on which she played the mother of her real-life niece Shelley Fabares.

Also she starred in the films, including "The Happy Ending", 1969, "Harper Valley PTA", 1978 and "Amy", 1981. Nanette's recent work was in 2007, when she appeared in "The Damsel Dialogues". The show, which was performed at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks, California, focused on women's issues with life, love, loss, and the workplace.

Achievements

• Fabray was awarded three-time Primetime Emmy award. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Nanette was awarded the President's Distinguished Service Award and the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award for her long efforts on behalf of the deaf and hard-of-hearing. She received a Tony nomination for her role as Nell Henderson in "Mr. President" in 1963.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • The Band Wagon

    (Oscar-winner and legendary hoofer Fred Astaire stars in t...)

    1953
  • The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

    (Academy Award-winner Bette Davis ("Jezebel," "Dark Victor...)

    1939
  • The Cockeyed Cowboys Of Calico County 1970
  • Harper Valley P.T.A. 2005

Connections

On October 26, 1947 Nanette Fabray married David Tebet, with whom she divorced in July 1951. Then in 1957, she married Ranald MacDougall. The marriage produced a son.

Father:

Raoul Bernard Fabares

Mother:

Lillian (McGovern) Fabares

Second husband:

Ranald MacDougall (March 10, 1915 - December 12, 1973)

First husband:

David Tebet

niece:

Shelley Fabares