"I am strong. I am invincible, I am woman ..." -- Those immortal words sung by Helen Reddy could very well have been describing Women In Film co-founder, Nancy Malone, who will among many honorees at the annual New York Women in Film & Television Muse Awards tonight, December 12, 2013.
The highly anticipated event is an exciting, glamorous luncheon honoring prominent women in the film, television and digital media fields. Those selected to receive the coveted Muse Award for Vision include
Ellen Barkin,
Connie Britton,
Sonia Manzano,
Robin Wright and Frances Berwick. The
Loreen Arbus Award For Those Who Take Action and Effect Change will be given to
Nancy Malone, actor, producer, director and founding member of Women in Film.
The Queens Village, Long Island, New York, native,
Nancy Malone, began her career as a model at age seven, booking ads ranging from Kellogg's Cereal to giant billboards advertising the latest Ford car models, as well as appearing in full-page ads for Macy's and other leading department stores and products. At ten she was chosen for the cover of Life Magazine's 10th Anniversary issue: "The Typical American Girl."
When, then leading talent agency,
William Morris, signed her to a contract, she began working in a show broadcast live on DuMont TV Network and hired for half hour scripted dramas, prior to hundreds of guest starring roles on TV and in theater: Hall
Mark Hall of Fame, The US Steel Hour, Studio One, Kraft TV Playhouse, Goodyear Playhouse, Philco Playhouse, Lux Theatre,
Robert Montgomery Presents, Route 66 and The Guiding Light, to name a few and appeared in TV's first Soap Opera -- The First Hundred Years. At fifteen she made her Broadway debut as 'Ginger,' co-starring
Melvyn Douglas in Time Out for Ginger, receiving a nomination as Best Actress from the Sarah Siddons Society.
Charles Laughton chose her to play
Jenny Hill in the "All Star" production of Shaw's Major Barbara, to be followed by The Seven Year Itch, A Place for Polly (a pre-Broadway tryout); Requiem for a Heavyweight, The Chalk Garden with
Judith Anderson as well as A Touch of the Poet with
Helen Hayes, and The Trial of the Catonsville Nine.
She starred in the ground breaking and award winning television series, Naked City, where she received an Emmy Award Nomination for Best Actress, to then be cast as Clara Varner in the TV series The Long Hot Summer. She moved to California where she continued her guest starring roles in Bonanza, The Fugitive, The Partridge Family, Big Valley, The Rockford Files, Outer Limits, Run for Your Life, Dr Kildare, The
Andy Griffith Show, Hawaii Five-0, The Twilight Zone, Lou Grant and other leading programs. The Killing of Randy Webster and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn were among her last TV acting appearances, before making the move from the small to big screen, co-starring with
Burt Reynolds in the movie, The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing.
In 1971
Nancy Malone was invited to join Tomorrow Entertainment as a story analyst which led to a position as Director of Motion Pictures, and then the inevitable step to producing her first TV Movie, Winner Take All, starring
Shirley Jones, for NBC. She was then asked to join
20th Century Fox's TV department as Director of TV Development. Shortly thereafter she was appointed Vice President of Television, the first woman VP at a major studio. Since then she has received five Emmy nominations (winning 2), the Mary Susan Reynolds Award, won the Cinema Editors' Best Actress Award, retained First Prize for various projects at the John Muir, Cine Golden Eagle, American Film and the Oklahoma Film Festival. In addition she has honored with the first Crystal Award and the Founders Award from Women in Film. Nancy served as Chair of the WIF Foundation, contributed to the Film Finishing Fund, and became the namesake of the
Nancy Malone Directors Award. She has been honored by both the Harvard University Women's Leadership Board and the Paley Center for Media and in 2010, at the request of the Performing Arts Section UCLA Library: Special Collections, she organized and presented her papers and memorabilia to that facility for permanent research and record keeping.
However, it is as a co-founder of Women in Film, that she admits great pride in how it has become the most successful women's organization in Hollywood and is now worldwide. These accomplishments are among the very few reasons that the NYWIFT Members have chosen to honor her at this years celebration.
The gathering, held at the New York Hilton (1335 Avenue of the Americas) is a highlight of the New York City holiday season in the entertainment industry, and is attended by an enthusiastic audience of over 1100 industry professionals, including leading executives from every major studio, network and film production and post production facility.
Tickets range from $160 for NYWIFT Members and $325 for Non-Members, while Corporate Tables are available for $3000 and Sponsorship packages have a wide margin of $5,000 to $50,000. For more information, visit:
www.nywift.org, (212) 679-0870, (212) 679-0899(fax)
