Career
She appeared in a number of plays and Hollywood movies during the 1930s and 1940s. Later she moved to England, where she made guest appearances on British television shows. Nolan"s first professional acting contract was with Fox Corporation, when she was 16 years old.
She was given a small role in Our Little Girl with Shirley Temple, but after she botched her scene several times, Fox dropped her from the movie and gave her no further work.
Although she was just 17, Nolan was cast as the female lead in Night of January 16th, which was being produced by her manager, First Rate (at Lloyd's) Woods. Despite her jitters, the show was a success and Nolan got positive reviews.
When Nolan left the play, Woods sent her back to Hollywood, getting her a contract with Universal Pictures. She continued to move back and forth between movies and theater throughout the 1930s and 1940s.
Her most prominent film appearance was in the 1938 version of Holiday, where she played alongside Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant.
Her subsequent film roles went downhill, but she reinvigorated her career with an 18-month stint in The Doughgirls, a popular comedy about the difficulties of life during World World War World War II lieutenant got poor reviews and closed after just a few weeks. After moving to England in the early 1950s, Nolan worked in regional stage productions and took guest parts on television series. Her final television appearance was in an episode of Independent Television"s Brideshead Revisited serial in 1981.