Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California • Page 73

'Going Up' Will Always Be Young Airlane Thespian, Now Heard As Catherine In Dixon Serial As Well As In Many Other Offerings Over Network 1 v( 1 Favorite Line Of Actress Who Formerly Operated Lift to Pay Teacher In Dramatics 1 r-3 Nancy Coleman who plays tha part of the self-eufflclent 22-year-old in "Hawthorn House" and who was glrtn the part after reading it at sight In her first audition at KBC. Romaine photos. bvk En). KIM Vlll .11 i VII 1 11 u. 4 By JACK BURROUGHS Going upi" This was the first line spoken professionally in San Francisco by one of NBC's outstanding young actresses, Nancy Coleman.

No, it was not spoken Into a microphone. Nancy was running an elevator at the time. Leaving Nancy in the elevator cage for the time being, let us go back twenty-two years ahd trace the series of events which finally took her to San Francisco and placed her slender but capable hand upon the control switch of an elevator. Nancy was born in Everett, Washington, on December 30, 1915. Her father, Charles Coleman, was managing editor of an Everett newspaper and an amateur artist, landscape gardener and architect.

Her mother was an accomplished violinist. During her school and college days Nancy followed her natural aptitude for dramatic work. At the University of Washington, from which she graduated a year or so ago, she majored in dramatics and English. A considerable amount of Little Theater and campus production experience came her way, but her first professional work was for NBC, where she Is now heard as Catherine Brainard, self-sufficient 22-year-old in Samuel Dickson's serial, "Hawthorne House." She took part in several dance dramas while at college, and for one semester she was assistant director of the College Review. After receiving her bachelor of arts degree at the University of Washington she went to New York City, where she attended the Teachers' College at Columbia.

A single semester in the Teachers' College convinced her that she was not fitted by nature or by inclination to become a school teacher. While in New York she spent a month at one of the leading dramatic schools. A broken ankle necessitated her giving up her studies for the time being, and she returned to the Pacific Coast. Still cherishing her determination to become an actress, she came to San Francisco where she work in one of the department stores. iiiil fiplStil Ill III i 'Tuns and punsters? I try to be tolerant," says Nancy.

lilt! Mlas Coleman, la shown at left in one of her characteristic poset THIS brings us to the point we find her in an elevator with her hand upon the control switch and her lips shaping one of the least dramatic of lines: "Going up!" "I needed a job, and it was all I could get at the rrfoment," Nancy explains. "It was terribly boring, but it did bring in a few dollars to pay for dancing and dramatic lessons. From June, 1935, 1 worked in the millinery department, and for a time, even after I made my NBC debut, I continued to work there. I was not exactly In love with the Idea of selling hats, but I'm afraid I'm one of those cautious souls who want to keep their finger in two pies at once. "If I ever reach the place In life where I can give advice to girls who want to act I'll say: 'Work in a department "Honestly there Is no place in the wqrld like It if you want to study characters and analyze the qualities that you may have to portray on the stage or on the air." Nancy's private collection of character sketches, stored away in her head during the years since she became old enough to observe her fellow beings, number among the most vivid many that Impressed themselves upon her mind when she was taking passengers from floor to floor in the department store elevator.

There was of course the inevitable fat woman with a double armload of packages who cherished-the illusion that she could squeeze into an elevato already full of passengers and who was throatily vociferous when Nancy closed the door without admitting her. And there was the thin, sad-faced little girl who wanted to know where Santa Claus had his office so she could ask him to bring her baby brother a Christmas present. It was necessary to explain that Christmas was almost half a year away and that Santa Claus was away up on top of the world cooling his heels in a snowdrift But Nancy was able to temper the sadness of this unfortunate bit of news with a coin that made a present possible without benefit of Yuletide or Santa. This incident is somehow bound up in Nancy's mind with her earliest recollection that of the brightly lighted and ornamented Christmas tree for her second Christmas. IN case the pictures on this page do not give you an adequate idea as to Nancy's appearance, here 'axe a few facts that may help: She is 5 feet 6i once and got the shock of my life.

I had alwaya supposed that a pun was merely an Instrument of torture. But, no. Webster insists that a pun is Intended to have a 'witty or humorous He also describes it as a 'kind of verbal which seems to me to come nearer to the truth of the matter. "Occasional punsters are not so bad. Few people are entirely immune to the temptation to Indulge in a play on words.

But' deliver me from the inveterate punster. Of course, as I said, I try to be tolerant, even In the most extreme cases." NANCY'S present ambition is to play two roles-Juliet and Peter Pan. She was able to answer three questions with on word, uttered in a decisive tone that left no room for doubt as to her emphatic opinion in the matter, The three questions were: "What is your idea of the most useless sport or pastime?" "What is your pet aversion "What is your idea of nothing to do?" The answer: Her reason: "It seems to be so much work for so little enjoyment." Nancy spends hours every day perfecting herself in the accomplishments that mean most to her in furthering her success in her chosen field. These include dancing, fencing, dramatics and languages. To this rigid and strenuous routine she recently added swimming lessons.

It is beginning to look as though there were something prophetic, from the point of view of human achievement, in the phrase Nancy uttered most frequently when she landed her first job in San Francisco: "Going up!" formance made a deep and lasting Impression upon me," she says. "Up to that moment I had never dreamed that such loveliness could exist anywhere. It seemed to atrike a chord that has never ceased to vibrate. I have only to close my eyes and the picture comes back to me with all the freshness and thrill of a new and totally unexpected experience." PUNS and punsters being the curse of this as of every age, we were naturally curious as to Nancy's reactions to thL type of alleged humor. "Do 'you think puns should be a puu-ishable offense?" we asked experimentally.

Nancy looked distressed. "I try to tolerant," she said. "I summon all my self-control in order not to wreak Lwift and summary vengeance upon the punster. "Even Shakespeare and Thomas Hood were far from being at their best when they resorted to punning. "I looked up the word 'pun' in the dictionary incnes tall and weighs 120 pounds.

Her complexion is fair, and she insists that her hair is red, although her friends aver, with. equal insistence, that it is red-gold. Nancy was given her audition at NBC on March 26, 1936, and her first professional engagement came ten days later. As to her hobbies and relaxations, she reads, writes, goes to plays and the movies, listens to the radio, and dances.J5jHrfelaborates her statement as to her terpsichorean tendencies by adding: "I like both kinds of dancing I mean social and otherwise." "How about your first amateur experience?" we asked. "I danced in a program at the age of five," said Nancy.

"The date I do not remember. The thing that has remained most clearly in my mind in this connection is the fact that my father presented me with a book afterward for doing so nicely." Nancy says the outstanding incident of her childhood was seeing Anna Pavlova dance. "Something in the grace and beauty of that per OAKLAND TRIBUNE. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 1937.