Nellie Savage

Biography

Nelly Savage (or Nellie Savage) was born on March 5, 1893 in New York City. Her mother, Marie Savage,was a successful opera singer. Nelly danced with the Fokine's ballet and the Covent Garden opera in London. In 1920 she made her Broadway debut in musical Mecca. Then she joined the cast of the Ziegfeld Follies. She quickly became known for having the longest hair on the stage. Her dark locks were 36 3/4 inches long! Nelly stared working as an extra and landed a small role in the 1923 film The Mad Dancer. She became friends with Natasha Rambova who got her a part in Rudolph Valentino's drama Monsieur Beaucaire. D.W. Griffith cast her in his movies Isn't Life Wonderful and The Sorrows Of Satan. In an interview she said "Being a Follies girl doesn't really help you much in Pictures. A Follies girl unless she's happens to be just lucky has to go through the mill like any other extra girl" . Nelly, who usually played exotic roles, was nicknamed "The Girl With The Sweet Wickedness". She returned to Broadway in the 1926 musical The Jeweled Tree. By 1930 her film career had stalled and she decided to quit show business. Her final film was the drama the Hole In The Wall with Claudette Colbert. Nelly spent her later years living in Florida. She died in December of 1969 at the age seventy-six.