Nancy Malone was an actress, director, producer and executive who also co-founded the organization Women in Film.
The Long Island, New York, native began her show business career as a child, appearing as a model and in advertising campaigns from the age of seven. At 10, she appeared as “The Typical American Girl" on the cover of Life magazine's 10th anniversary issue.
She began acting in her teens with a role on the daytime drama The First Hundred Years, and made her Broadway debut in the play Time Out for Ginger when she was 15. She continued to work in the theater while continuing to work in television. Other early TV credits included Lux Video Theatre, Guiding Light, Armstrong Circle Theatre and The Alcoa Hour.
On Naked City, which aired on ABC from 1958 to 1963, Malone played played Libby Kingston, the girlfriend of detective Adam Flint, played by Paul Burke. In 1963 she received an Emmy nomination for her work on the show.
Her other TV credits as an actress included The Fugitive, Dr. Kildare, The Twilight Zone, Bonanza, The Andy Griffith Show, The Big Valley, Hawaii Five-O, Marcus Welby, M.D., The Flying Nun, The Partridge Family, Ironside, The Rockford Files and Lou Grant.
In 1975, Malone founded Lilac Productions and produced Winnner Take All, a made-for-television movie that aired on NBC. The company also produced such telefilms as Sherlock Holmes in New York, Like Mom, Like Me and The Violation of Sarah McDavid. She later joined Fox as director of television development and later as vice president of television.
Malone shifted gears again in the 1980s when she completed the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women, after which she directed the PBS telefilm There Were Times, Dear. She went on to direct episodes of more than 20 series, many of them for Aaron Spelling Productions, where she became a staff director. Those credits included Dynasty, The Colbys, Hotel, Melrose Place and Beverly Hills, 90210. She also directed episodes of Starman, Knots Landing, Cagney & Lacey, Star Trek: Voyager, Touched by an Angel, Dawson’s Creek, Judging Amy, Resurrection Blvd. and The Guardian.
She scored Emmy nominations for directing episodes of Sisters and Rosie O’Neill and won an Emmy (shared with Linda Hope and Don Mischer) in 1993 for producing the special Bob Hope: The First 90 Years.
In the mid-1970s, Malone co-founded Women in Film, the nonprofit organization dedicated to helping women advance in the entertainment, communication and media industries. In 1977, she was one of the first recipients of the group's first Crystal Awards.
Malone died May 8, 2014, in Duarte, California. She was 79.