Nancy Kilgas (dancer and actor, known for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers)

by Jen Eggleston June 19, 2025

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is one of my all-time favourite movies and I’ve always adored Alice, the “bride” of the youngest brother, Gideon (played by Russ Tamblyn). I noticed that Nancy doesn’t have a Wikipedia page and there wasn’t much information about her online, so I thought I’d share what I’ve found.

Nancy Blanche Kilgas was born in Seattle on 7 November 1930 to Carl (a credit manager) and Frances Kilgas (nee Hurlburt).

	1930 census	1940 census	1950 census
	Seattle WA	Seattle WA	Portland OR
Carl	25, Credit man (newspaper)	34, Credit manager (oil and gas sales)	44, Credit manager (petroleum company)
Frances	24	34	44
Nancy	-	9	19, Filing (office)

The family were living in Portland by 1941 – Nancy wrote a letter to the kids page of her local newspaper to give away some kittens. She was involved in many activities, including being a member of the cartoon, dramatics, pet and sewing clubs, and even wrote newspaper articles as a Young Oregonian Reporter. She interviewed several noted dancers, including Lucia Chase, Igor Yousekivitch and Andre Eglesky, who all “spoke encouragingly of dancing as a profession”.

Nancy studied ballet with Nicholas Vasilief and went on to teach children’s ballet classes at the Paul Armstrong School of Dancing, as well as regularly performing at the Portland Theatre of Opera and Ballet.

After graduating from Grant High School, she studied Liberal Arts at Vanport College (now Portland State University) and, in 1950, was chosen as “sweetheart” of the Delta Tau Rho fraternity and presented with an engraved locket. However, she decided to follow her passion for dancing and moved to Hollywood.

The Oregon Daily Journal (March 2, 1950)

A later newspaper article said that she accompanied her parents on a business trip to LA and took some dancing classes while she was there to pass the time. The teachers said she showed promise, so she moved permanently. I think that’s probably a slightly dramatized version of the story, but, however it happened, she moved into the Hollywood Studio Club and studied ballet with Lotte Goslar and Maria Bekefi.

Nancy began working very quickly – dancing at the Hollywood Bowl and appearing regularly on The Dinah Shore Show. She also (so the story goes!) found out that a bunch of women were auditioning for the new musical movie, Hans Christian Andersen, and decided to turn up “uninvited” herself. When the casting director found out she wasn’t a member of the Screen Actors Guild, she was dismissed, but was quickly called back and cast!

She joined the Billy Daniels Revue and performed in a seven week engagement at the Mocambo, where an MGM producer saw her and invited her to audition. She didn’t get the first job she went for, but the next one was Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Nancy worked with her co-stars, June Powell and Virgina Gibson, again in the movie Athena – also featuring Debbie Reynolds and a pre-Hercules Steve Reeves. And she continued appearing in movies throughout the 1950s – in some named roles, but often as an uncredited dancer.

In 1954, Nancy was featured in a set of “beach beauties” photos with Debbie Reynolds, Cyd Charisse, Janet Leigh and another one of the “brides”, Betty Carr. In 1956, she was one of thirteen starlets to “start on the road to fame” at the fourth annual Deb Star Ball of the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists.

Nancy’s parents were still living in Portland and she visited them in 1958. All three were in a car crash and Nancy suffered minor neck injuries.

Nancy did more acting work on television in the late fifties, as well as appearing as a model in a photo series about ballet posture and stretching exercises. And a slightly weird advertisement selling a pattern for a set of storage shelves to hang on the back of a door. Throughout the 1960s, she was a dancer in Nevada.

Moving away from dance, Nancy became a successful realtor in LA – seen in newspaper articles and listings from 1969 to 1992.

The Los Angeles Times (December 24, 1978)

Nancy was an only child and never married. By 1993, her parents were living with her in Pacific Palisades, California. Her father died in 2000 and her mother in 2003.

Nancy died in 2022, aged 91. Her gravestone says “devoted daughter, caretaker of all creatures great and small”.

She appears to have provided a bequest to the scholarship set up to honour her mother’s sister – the Blanche Marie Hurlburt Memorial Scholarship to provide continued higher education for graduating high school students from Thompson Falls, Montana.

Filmography:

Before starting this research, I only knew Nancy as Alice, but I was delighted to see she was in Hans Christian Andersen (another of my favourites!), so I went off to find her in it. This turned into a bit of a scavenger hunt through all of her movies!

Hans Christian Andersen (1952) – Dancer (uncredited)

Call Me Madam (1953) – Dancer (uncredited) [Not on IMDB, but mentioned in a newspaper article]

Man in the Attic (1953) – Dancer (uncredited) [Not on IMDB, but mentioned in a newspaper article]

Telling a fictionalized version of Jack the Ripper, with American accents and very modern costumes in a stage show.

The French Line (1953) – Model in Musical Number (uncredited)

Gorilla at Large (1954) – Trapeze assistant (uncredited)

Helping Anne Bancroft swing over a gorilla

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) – Alice Elcott

Athena (1954) – The Sisters: Aphrodite

Oklahoma! (1955) – Dancer (uncredited)

I think it's the law for all Old West musicals to have Nancy dancing in her undergarments

There's Always Tomorrow (1956) – Leading Dancer in Show (uncredited)

Dancing in the show that the main characters go to

When Gangland Strikes (1956) – Sarah Ames (uncredited)

Not part of the main plot - stops the judge outside his courtroom to appeal on behalf of her husband

Shake, Rattle & Rock! (1956) – Nancy

Gasp! A small town tries to ban rock and roll. Nancy is a "witness" for the prosecution - ballet dancing to some calm piano music, before the teenagers get going with their own version.

Funny Face (1957) – Melissa (uncredited)

Another musical legend!

Loving You (1957) – 2nd Autograph Seeker (uncredited)

No dancing this time, but she does meet Elvis!

Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) – Mary Philbin in 'Phantom' (uncredited)

James Cagney playing Lon Chaney and Nancy as Mary Philbin making the 1925 silent movie version of The Phantom of the Opera. Not sure why they went for long, straight, blonde hair when Mary was dark and curly, but whatever

High School Hellcats (1958) – Laurie

Girls can be juvenile delinquents too!

The Restless Years (1958) – Student (uncredited) [Not on IMDB, but mentioned in a newspaper article]

Sandra Dee's first movie

Earth vs the Spider (1958) – Dancer

She even got the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 treatment!

Curse of the Undead (1959) – Cora (uncredited)

Another Western, but this time a vampire one. Nancy is the first death in the movie

Torn Curtain (1966) – Ballet Member (uncredited)

Part of the ballet Paul Newman and Julie Andrews watch as part of their escape from East Berlin

As for television, Nancy was an uncredited dancer in many shows and specials, including playing Sleeping Beauty’s good fairy for Sid Caesar and appearing on the Donald O’Connor Show and the Bob Hope Show.

The list from IMDB is:

Big Town – S6E22: School Scandal (1956) – Ann Mason

Dragnet – S6E12: The Big Doting Mother (1956) – unnamed

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars – S6E26: For Better, For Worse (1957) – Rita Connor

With Bette Davis