{{Short description|American actress (1891–1965)}} {{Infobox person | name = Nell Craig | image = Nell Craig - Sep 1916 MP.jpg | image_size = 190px | alt = | caption = Craig in 1916 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1891|6|13}} | birth_place = Princeton, New Jersey, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1965|1|5|1891|6|13}} | death_place = Hollywood, California, U.S. | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1913–1948 }}
'''Nell Craig''' (June 13, 1891 – January 5, 1965) was an American actress from the 1910s into the 1940s.<ref>{{cite web|author=Hans J. Wollstein |url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/nell-craig-p15567 |title=Nell Craig |publisher=AllMovie |date= |accessdate=2019-03-27}}</ref> In silent pictures she was known for her collaborations with her husband, director Fred E. Wright. In the 1940s, she played Nurse "Nosey" Parker in the Dr. Kildare and Dr. Gillespie medical dramas.
== Biography == Craig was born in Princeton, New Jersey and raised in Philadelphia,<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=Naylor |first=Hazel Simpson |date=April 1917 |title=The Golden Girl: A Morning Spent with Nell Craig |url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturemag13moti/page/n411/mode/2up?q=%22Nell+Craig%22+ |journal=Motion Picture Magazine |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=66-67, 1960 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> the daughter of Charles Craig and Sarah J. Applegate Craig. Her father worked for the railroad; both of her parents were also born in New Jersey.<ref>1900 United States census, via Ancestry.</ref>
Craig made over 150 films. Unlike some of her peers, she successfully made the transition from the silent era into sound films.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Parsons |first=Louella O. |author-link=Louella Parsons |date=1930-07-22 |title=Warners Making Latest Picture With New Telescopic Process |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-courier-warners-making-latest-pi/196933403/ |access-date=2026-05-05 |work=Evening Courier |pages=7 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She was seen in westerns,<ref name=":0" /> historical romances,<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=McQuade |first=James S. |date=1915-10-16 |title=Reviews of Current Productions: 'In the Palace of the King' |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Moving_Picture_World_and_View_Photograph/De8lR_sUtoUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Nell+Craig&pg=PA657&printsec=frontcover |journal=The Moving Picture World |pages=460-461}}</ref> melodramas,<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Graham |first=Thomas |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Silent_Films_in_St_Augustine/-YDSEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Nell+Craig&pg=PA1913-IA3&printsec=frontcover |title=Silent Films in St. Augustine |date=2017-09-05 |publisher=University Press of Florida |isbn=978-0-8130-6304-1 |language=en}}</ref> and comedies. "I prefer emotional parts, not simpering ingenue parts," she told an interviewer in 1917.<ref name=":8" /> She was considered a screen beauty, with dark hair and eyes.<ref name=":8" /> After playing a blind character in ''In the Palace of the King'' (1916), she "suffered severely from inflamed eye balls" after holding her eyes wide open without blinking during filming.<ref name=":1" /> Later in her career she played "Nurse Nosey Parker" in the Dr. Kildare and Dr. Gillespie movies.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |date=1941-03-08 |title=Criterion; 'Dr. Kildare's Crisis' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-of-cumberland-county-criterion/196933670/ |access-date=2026-05-05 |work=The News of Cumberland County |pages=2 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite news |last=Cameron |first=Kate |date=1943-02-21 |title=Barrymore Again the Peevish Doc |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-barrymore-again-the-peevish-d/196933938/ |access-date=2026-05-05 |work=Daily News |pages=39 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1941-08-01 |title=Birthday on Stage |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-birthday-on-stage/196934620/ |access-date=2026-05-05 |work=Democrat and Chronicle |pages=8 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
She married writer and director Fred E. Wright,<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=1924-10-26 |title=Wrights Prove Romance Lives; Love Story of Novelist and Actress Colorful |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-wrights-prove-roma/196932304/ |access-date=2026-05-05 |work=The Los Angeles Times |pages=19, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-wrights-prove-roma/196932457/ 20] |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> who directed her in silent films for Pathé and Essanay studios. They moved to California in 1918, he left film work, and she supported them while he wrote his best-selling novel, ''Pandora La Croix'' (1924)''.''<ref>{{Cite journal |date=September 1924 |title=A Writer's Mouse |url=https://archive.org/details/Screenland-1924-09-Vol-9-No-6/page/78/mode/2up?q=%22Nell+Craig%22+ |journal=Screenland |volume=9 |issue=6 |pages=78 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Her husband died in 1936.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1936-08-07 |title=Rite Near for Film Veteran |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-evening-citizen-news-rite-ne/196932937/ |access-date=2026-05-05 |work=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News |pages=11 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She lived at the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital in her later years, and died in 1965, in Hollywood, at the age of 73.<ref>Death date confirmed in California Death Index, via Ancestry.</ref>
==Partial filmography== thumb|Still from the American drama film ''The Queen of Sheba'' (1921) with Nell Craig as Princess Vashti, on page 71 of the September 24, 1921 ''Exhibitors Herald''.
=== Silent films === * ''The Battle of Shiloh'' (1913) * ''Pearl of the Punjab'' (1914, Pathé)<ref name=":2" /> * ''When Rome Ruled'' (1914, Pathé)<ref name=":2" /> * ''Once a Thief'' (1914, Essanay)<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Rainey |first=Buck |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Strong_Silent_Type/JZMuEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Nell+Craig&pg=PA163&printsec=frontcover |title=The Strong, Silent Type: Over 100 Screen Cowboys, 1903-1930 |date=2024-10-18 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-1524-0 |pages=162, 163, 164 |language=en}}</ref> * ''Jabez's Conquest'' (1915, Essanay)<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1915-07-10 |title=Jabez's Conquest |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Moving_Picture_World/AZ0sAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Nell%20Craig |journal=The Moving Picture World |pages=328}}</ref> * ''A Pound for a Pound'' (1915, Essanay)<ref name=":0" /> * ''His Crucible'' (1915, Essanay)<ref name=":3" /> * ''The Law's Decree'' (1915, Essanay)<ref name=":3" /> * ''The Return of Gentleman Joe'' (1915, Essanay)<ref name=":3" /> * ''The Second Son'' (1915, Essanay)<ref name=":3" /> * ''The Destroyer'' (1915, Essanay)<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1915-10-30 |title=Stories of the Films |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Moving_Picture_World_and_View_Photograph/De8lR_sUtoUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Nell%20Craig&pg=PA1015&printsec=frontcover |journal=The Moving Picture World |pages=1015}}</ref> * ''The Whirlpool'' (1915, Essanay)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Howard |first=Marion |date=1915-11-06 |title=Spokes from the Hub |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Moving_Picture_World_and_View_Photograph/De8lR_sUtoUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Nell%20Craig&pg=PA1122&printsec=frontcover |journal=The Moving Picture World |pages=1122}}</ref> * ''On the Little Mill Trace'' (1915, Essanay)<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1915-11-06 |title=Stories of the Films |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Moving_Picture_World_and_View_Photograph/De8lR_sUtoUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Nell%20Craig&pg=PA1187&printsec=frontcover |journal=The Moving Picture World |pages=1187}}</ref> * ''The Danger of Being Lonesome'' (1915, Essanay)<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1915-12-18 |title=Stories of the Films |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Moving_Picture_World_and_View_Photograph/De8lR_sUtoUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Nell%20Craig&pg=PA208-IA27&printsec=frontcover |journal=The Moving Picture World |pages=2239}}</ref> * ''The Condemnation'' (1916, Essanay)<ref name=":3" /> * ''Gold Dust'' (1916, Essanay)<ref name=":3" /> * ''Her Naked Soul'' (1916, Essanay)<ref name=":3" /> * ''The War Bride of Plumville'' (1916, Essanay)<ref name=":3" /> * ''The Breaker'' (1916, Essanay) based on a story by Arthur Stringer<ref>{{Cite news |date=1917-12-09 |title=Grand Theatre |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/santa-cruz-sentinel-grand-theatre/196932083/ |access-date=2026-05-05 |work=Santa Cruz Sentinel |pages=6 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> * ''In the Palace of the King'' (1916, Essanay; adapted from a Francis Marion Crawford novel)<ref name=":1" /> * ''The Trufflers'' (1917)<ref>{{Cite news |date=1917-05-05 |title=Would You Know What a Truffler is? Read This and See |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-evening-express-would-you-kn/196931854/ |access-date=2026-05-05 |work=Los Angeles Evening Express |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1917-06-03 |title=Nell Craig Star in 'The Trufflers' at The Royal Today; Pretty Actress Demonstrates Her Versatility |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/atlantic-city-sunday-press-the-sunday-ga/196933138/ |access-date=2026-05-05 |work=Atlantic City Sunday Press the Sunday Gazette |pages=9 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> * ''The Triflers'' (1920) * ''The Desperate Hero'' (1920)<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1920-06-19 |title=The Desperate Hero |url=https://archive.org/details/camera1920192200unse/page/n5/mode/2up?q=%22Nell+Craig%22+ |journal=Camera! |volume=3 |issue=10 |pages=7 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> * ''Passion's Playground'' (1920) * ''Her First Elopement'' (1920) * ''The Queen of Sheba'' (1921) * ''Remembrance'' (1922) * ''The Abysmal Brute'' (1923)<ref name=":0" /> * ''Abraham Lincoln'' (1924)<ref name=":4" /> * ''A Boy of Flanders'' (1924)
=== Sound pictures === * ''Cimarron'' (1931)<ref name=":5" /> * ''Hold Your Man'' (1933) * ''Beauty for Sale'' (1933) * ''I'm No Angel'' (1933) * ''The Cat's-Paw'' (1934) * ''The Lemon Drop Kid'' (1934) * ''Mad Love'' (1935) * ''The Secret of Dr. Kildare'' (1939)<ref name=":0" /> * ''Dr. Kildare's Strange Case'' (1940)<ref name=":0" /> * ''Beyond Tomorrow'' (1940) * ''Dr. Kildare Goes Home'' (1940) * ''Nobody's Children'' (1940) * ''Dr. Kildare's Crisis'' (1940)<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Rainey |first=Buck |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Reel_Cowboy/Q3iPEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Nell+Craig&pg=PA79&printsec=frontcover |title=The Reel Cowboy: Essays on the Myth in Movies and Literature |date=2014-03-14 |publisher=McFarland |page=79, 176, 227 |isbn=978-0-7864-9365-4 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":6" /> * ''This Woman is Mine'' (1941)<ref>{{Cite news |date=1941-12-03 |title=Tone and Carroll Star at Regent; 'This Woman is Mine' Based on Best-Selling Novel |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-call-tone-and-carroll-star-a/196933531/ |access-date=2026-05-05 |work=The Morning Call |pages=8 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> * ''The People vs. Dr. Kildare'' (1941) * ''Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day'' (1941) * ''Dr. Kildare's Victory'' (1942) * ''Calling Dr. Gillespie'' (1942) * ''Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant'' (1942)<ref name=":7" /> * ''Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour'' (1943) * ''Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case'' (1943) * ''Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid'' (1944) * ''3 Men in White'' (1944) * ''Casanova Brown'' (1944) * ''Fashion Model'' (1945)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Monogram Pictures |url=http://archive.org/details/pressbook-monogram-fashion-model |title=Fashion Model (Monogram Pressbook, 1945) |date=1945 |publisher=Monogram Pictures |others=Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research}}</ref> * ''Between Two Women'' (1945) * ''Black Market Babies'' (1945) * ''Possessed'' (1947) * ''Dark Delusion'' (1947) * ''Here Comes Trouble'' (1948)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Nell Craig}} * {{IMDb name|0185968}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, Nell}} Category:1891 births Category:1965 deaths Category:20th-century American actresses Category:American film actresses Category:Actresses from Princeton, New Jersey