Elliott Nugent

Biography

An American minor leading man of early Depression-era talkies who played earnest, boyish leads, Ohio-born Elliott Nugent would earn more distinction as a writer, producer and director of stage and film after all was said and done. The son of playwright/producer/actor J.C. Nugent, Elliott was born in 1896 and came from pure show business stock, joining his family's vaudeville act, which included both parents and sister Ruth, while still young. After graduating from Ohio State University Nugent traveled to New York and made his Broadway bow in the George S. Kaufman/Marc Connelly play "Dulcy", in which he enjoyed a personal success. Throughout the 1920s he remained a viable presence on stage, co-authoring and co-starring in nearly ten plays often in tandem with his father. Nugent eventually took his youthful good looks to Hollywood in 1929 and played young protagonists in both light-hearted and dramatic film features. His first starring role was in Wise Girls (1929), which was based on his own 1922 Broadway play "Kempy." The film also co-starred Elliott's wife Norma Lee (1899-1980) and featured his father. Other celluloid leads would include the musical So This Is College (1929) and the Marion Davies comedy Not So Dumb (1930). He went on to provide second leads alongside Lon Chaney and Lila Lee in the crime drama The Unholy Three (1930); The Sins of the Children (1930) starring Robert Montgomery; Leila Hyams (which was co-written by Elliott and J.C. Nugent), and the opulent Greta Garbo/Lewis Stone drama Romance (1930). Weary of acting in front of the camera, Elliott formulated a second career as a movie director. His work would include those for such top comedians as Bob Hope, Harold Lloyd and Danny Kaye in their lightweight vehicles. Among the many Broadway projects he and father J.C. corroborated or appeared together in were "Kempy" (which also featured sister vaudevillian Ruth) (1922), "The Poor Nut" (1925), "Take My Advice" (1927, a remake of "Kempy" (1927), "Fast Service" (1931), "All in Favor" (1942) and "A Place of Our Own" (1945). Nugent's behind-the-scenes career was severely hampered by severe chronic alcohol and psychological problems, prompting his retirement in 1957. He subsequently penned an autobiography entitled "Events Leading Up to the Comedy" in 1965. Long out of the limelight, he died in New York City at age 83 in August of 1980. Wife Norma, whom he married back in 1921, died later that December.