Frances E. Nealy

{{short description|American actress}}

{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}

{{Infobox person

|name = Frances E. Nealy

|image =

|caption =

|birth_date = {{birth date|1918|10|14}}

|birth_place = San Diego, California

|death_date = {{death date and age|1997|05|23|1918|10|14}}

|death_place = Hollywood, California

}}

Frances E. Nealy (October 14, 1918 – May 23, 1997) was an American actress and dancer. She starred in Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue.

She was born Frances Elizabeth Warner, the only child of Milton Warner and Elizabeth Bowen Warner, in San Diego.{{cite web |title=Frances E. Nealy |url=http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.music.tdabio.139/default.html |website=Library of Congress Performing Arts Databases |publisher=Library of Congress |accessdate=10 February 2019}} Nealy, who began tap dancing when she was 15, was once billed as "The Female Bill Robinson".{{cite news |title=Critics Choices; Dance |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/12/arts/critic-s-choices-dance.html |accessdate=14 September 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=October 12, 1986 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914235137/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/12/arts/critic-s-choices-dance.html |archivedate=14 September 2018 |location=New York City, New York |last1=Anderson |first1=Jack }}{{cite news |last1=Hinckley |first1=David |title=Feets of Fire |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23713945/daily_news/ |work=Daily News |date=October 15, 1986 |location=New York, New York City |page=Extra 3|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = September 13, 2018}} {{Open access}} She arrived in Hollywood in 1939 and performed at the Club Alabam with other black entertainers. By that time, "The biggest part of the black heyday in Hollywood was over," she said.

In 1968, she performed in "New Sole Sisters", a multi-generational production of female dancers.

In the 1980s, Nealy had her own studio, where she taught tap dancing.{{cite news |title=Black Entertainers |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23714264/frances_nealy/ |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=June 8, 1985 |location=California, Los Angeles |page=Part V - Page 8|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = September 13, 2018}} {{Open access}}