
This pretty, blonde 1940s B-movie starlet was the daughter of newspaperman Leonard Sanders and showgirl Blanche Thompson (who also appeared in a few silent pictures). By her own account, she was born in Hollywood as Nancy Lou Sanders on June 29 1925, the day of the Santa Barbara earthquake. Curiously, being in the movies had not been her primary career choice when she was spotted dancing at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub by journeyman actor and talent scout Don Dillaway. Dillaway took an instant shine to Nancy and managed to arrange a screen test at RKO. She passed muster and was rewarded with a six-month contract (being an experienced equestrian from the age of eight also helped clinch the deal). Before long, she found herself on the cover of Life magazine -- along with Jane Greer and Martha Hyer -- as one of 'nine hopefuls'. After five pictures, RKO dropped her option and Nancy moved over to Columbia where she went on to appear in no less than thirteen pictures in 1947 alone. Many of these were horse operas, including half a dozen of the Durango Kid series with Charles Starrett, shot at the Columbia ranch in Burbank. Nancy also doubled for Rita Hayworth in The Lady from Shanghai (1947) (wearing a blonde wig) and The Loves of Carmen (1948) (dressed as a gypsy). She was Gerald Mohr's leading lady in The Lone Wolf in London (1947) and popped up in a few Three Stooges comedies which she later said to have really enjoyed being in. When her Hollywood career began to falter in the early 50s, Nancy found work as a tour booking agent with Air Cal Airlines. In 1996, she came out of retirement for occasional TV guest appearances. She was predeceased by her husband of 43 years, a sales rep for Seagram and Jim Bean.
- Biography By: I.S.Mowis

The Shunning
2011 · as Ella Mae Zook

It Had to Be You
1947 · as Nancy (uncredited)

Slappily Married
1946 · as Bellhop (uncredited)

The Locket
1946 · as Miss Wyatt (uncredited)

The Millerson Case
1947 · as Belle Englehart

The Bamboo Blonde
1946 · as Glamour Girl (uncredited)

Love-Struck
1997 · as Sr. Jean-Marie

Stone Age Romeos
1955 · as Maggie (archive footage)

A Likely Story
1947 · as Blonde on Train (uncredited)

The Woman on the Beach
1947 · as Girl at Party (uncredited)

Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
1950 · as Joanie

The Ghost Talks
1949 · as Lady Godiva (uncredited)

I'm a Monkey's Uncle
1948 · as Maggie

Law of the Canyon
1947 · as Mary Coleman

Outlaw Country
1949 · as Jane Evans

Arizona Territory
1950 · as Doris Devin

The Lone Wolf in London
1947 · as Ann Klemscott

Six-Gun Law
1948 · as June Wallace