Jeanette Nolan, a character actress whose career spanned 70 years including the current motion picture The Horse Whisperer, has died. She was 86.
Ms. Nolan, who portrayed Robert Redford’s mother in the contemporary Western film, died Friday in Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills.
A native of Los Angeles, Ms. Nolan began acting with the Pasadena Community Playhouse in her teens and moved into radio while a student at Los Angeles City College. She made her radio debut in 1932 in Omar Khayyam, the first transcontinental broadcast from radio station KHJ. She also performed on radio’s The Hollywood Hotel, One Man’s Family, Suspense, Cavalcade of Stars, her own summer replacement show Dramatic Interlude with Jeanette Nolan and March of Time.
Equally happy on her Montana ranch or in Hollywood, she was particularly known for her roles in Western vehicles. Those included such television series as Laredo, Gunsmoke, and with her late husband, John McIntire, The Virginian and his series, Wagon Train. Among her Western films were Saddle Tramp, The Seventh Cavalry, Guns of Fort Petticoat and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Family friend Tracey Campbell said it was appropriate that Ms. Nolan’s final role should be in the Redford film set in her much-loved Montana.She appeared in more than 300 TV programs and was ominated for an Emmy four times.
Ms. Nolan will be buried in Montana with her late husband and their son, actor Tim McIntire.
In addition to her daughter, Holly Wright, of Charlottesville, Va., she is survived by a sister, Miriam Walker of Ashland, Ore., and one grandson.
