{{short description|American actress}} {{Infobox person | name = Judith Barrett | image = Judith Barrett in Road to Singapore trailer.jpg | caption = in ''Road to Singapore'' (1940) | image_size = | birth_name = Lucille Kelley | birth_date = {{birth date|1909|2|2}} | birth_place = Venus, Texas, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2000|3|10|1909|2|2}} | death_place = Palm Desert, California, U.S. | other_names = Nancy Dover | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1928–1940 | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Cliff Edwards|1932|1936|reason=divorced}} * {{marriage|Lindsay C. Howard|1940|1952|reason=divorced}} }} }} '''Judith Barrett''' (born '''Lucille Kelley''',<ref name=bh/> February 2, 1909 – March 10, 2000), also known as '''Nancy Dover''',<ref>{{cite book|last1=Reid|first1=John|title=Award-Winning Films of the 1930s|date=2004|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=9781411614321|page=46|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vaq_ClRbFf0C&q=%22Nancy+Dover%22+actress&pg=PA46|accessdate=13 July 2017|language=en}}</ref> was an American film actress whose career spanned from the late 1920s until 1940.
==Early life== Born and raised in Venus, Texas, Barrett was one of three children of a cattle rancher Sam Kelley.<ref name="scs">{{cite news|title='Venus Venus' Weds Wealthy Stable Owner|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12327659/judith_barrett_weds_lindsay_howard/|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|agency=Associated Press|date=March 23, 1940|location=California, Santa Cruz|page=2|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = July 12, 2017}} {{Open access}}</ref>
==Career== At 16, Barrett got on a train to Hollywood.{{Citation needed |date=September 2023}} Her first big chance came when she started in a lavish commercial film in 1928, ''The Sock Exchange'' opposite Bobby Vernon. In 1929, Barrett starred in five films, and made a successful transition to "talking films". From 1928 to 1933, she was billed as "Nancy Dover", and from 1930 to 1933, she appeared in nine films, all credited.
In 1933, Barrett appeared in only one film, ''Marriage Humor'' opposite Harry Langdon and Vernon Dent, while doing stage work. She did not have another role until 1936, when she starred in the crime drama ''Yellowstone'' opposite Henry Hunter and alongside Ralph Morgan and Alan Hale. It was the first film in which she was billed as "Judith Barrett". She appeared in two films that year, and five in 1937, one of which was her first uncredited role.
From 1938 to 1940, Barrett appeared in 10 films, all credited, including ''Road to Singapore'', the first "road" picture by the team of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Barrett retired from film acting following her appearance in the 1940 comedy ''Those Were the Days!'', starring William Holden and Bonita Granville.
===Telegenic=== Noted for her beauty, the October 16, 1939, edition of the ''Baltimore Sun'' said of her: "Judith Barrett, pretty and blonde actress, is the first Telegenic Girl to go on record. In other words, she is the perfect type of beauty for television. ... She is slated for the first television motion picture."<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/telegenic Telegenic | Define Telegenic at Dictionary.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' noted that Barrett was "selected after months of exhaustive tests by television experts, sound engineers, photographers, and make-up specialists."<ref name=slt>{{cite news|title=Film Actress Chosen First Telegenic Girl|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12327023/judith_barrett_telegenic/|work=The Salt Lake Tribune|date=August 19, 1939|location=Utah, Salt Lake City|page=11|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = July 12, 2017}} {{Open access}}</ref> Paramount Pictures followed up on the selection by featuring her in its film, ''Television Spy'' (1939).<ref name=slt/>
==Personal life== In March 1940, Barrett married Lindsay C. Howard in Yuma, Arizona.<ref name="bh">{{cite news|title=Judith Barrett Weds|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12327369/judith_barrett_marries_lindsay_howard/|work=The Brownsville Herald|agency=Associated Press|date=March 23, 1940|location=Texas, Brownsville|page=2|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = July 12, 2017}} {{Open access}}</ref> They divorced on April 8, 1952.<ref>{{cite news|title=Divorces|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gB4EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Judith+Barrett%22+actress&pg=PA52|accessdate=13 July 2017|work=Billboard|date=April 19, 1952|page=52}}</ref> She had earlier been married to actor Cliff Edwards.<ref name=bh/>
She eventually settled in Palm Desert, California, where she was residing at the time of her death at the age of 91 on March 10, 2000.<ref name="rp">{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Scott|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.|date=2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476625997|page=44|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ&q=%22Nancy+Dover%22+actress&pg=PA44|accessdate=July 13, 2017}}</ref> She had two children with Howard and the marriage ended in divorce.{{Citation needed |date=September 2023}}
==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Film |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1928 | ''{{sortname|The|Sock Exchange|nolink=1}}'' | June |First role credited as Nancy Dover |- | 1929 | ''Happy Heels'' | |- | 1929 | ''Scandal'' | Janet |- | 1929 | ''Skirt Shy'' | Nancy, the maid |- | 1929 | ''Dynamite'' | Good Mixer |- | 1929 | ''Romance De Luxe'' | |- | 1930 | ''{{sortname|The|Head Guy|nolink=1}}'' | Nancy |- | 1930 | ''Oh Darling'' | |- | 1930 | ''{{sortname|The|Fighting Parson|nolink=1}} '' | The Brunette Dance Hall Girl |- | 1930 | ''{{sortname|The|Big Kick|nolink=1}}'' | Harry's Girl |- | 1930 |''The Thoroughbred'' | Colleen Riley |- | 1931 | ''Cimarron'' | Donna Cravat |- | 1931 | ''Big Business Girl '' | Sarah Ellen |- | 1931 | ''Hollywood Halfbacks'' | Kay |- | 1933 | ''Marriage Humor'' | | Last role credited as Nancy Dover |- | 1936 | ''Yellowstone'' | Ruth Foster | |- | 1936 | ''Flying Hostess'' | Helen Brooks | |- | 1937 | ''{{sortname|The|Good Old Soak}}'' | Ina Heath | |- | 1937 | ''Let Them Live'' | Rita Johnson | |- | 1937 | ''Armored Car'' | Ella Logan | |- | 1937 | ''Vogues of 1938'' | Model | Uncredited |- | 1937 | ''Behind the Mike'' | Jane Arledge | |- | 1938 | ''Illegal Traffic'' | Marie Arden | |- | 1939 | ''Persons in Hiding'' | Blase Blonde | |- | 1939 | ''I'm from Missouri'' | Lola Pike | |- | 1939 | ''{{sortname|The|Gracie Allen Murder Case|The Gracie Allen Murder Case#Film adaptation}}'' | Dixie Del Marr | |- | 1939 | ''Television Spy'' | Gwen Lawson | |- | 1939 | ''Disputed Passage'' | Winifred Bane | |- | 1939 | ''{{sortname|The|Great Victor Herbert|The Great Victor Herbert}}'' | Marie Clark | |- | 1940 | ''Road to Singapore'' | Gloria Wycott | |- | 1940 | ''Women Without Names'' | Peggy Athens | |- | 1940 | ''Those Were the Days!'' | Mirabel Allstairs | Final film role |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons}} *{{IMDb name|0057184}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Judith}} Category:American silent film actresses Category:American film actresses Category:People from Johnson County, Texas Category:Actresses from Texas Category:1909 births Category:2000 deaths Category:20th-century American actresses