Nola Fairbanks

Nola Fairbanks (born Nola Jo Modine on December 10, 1924 in Santa Paula, California) is the granddaughter of Mormon pioneers Ralph Jacobus Fairbanks (aka R.J. "Dad" Fairbanks) and Celestia Adelaide Johnson Fairbanks^[1] from Payson, Utah and Death Valley, California and has done film and Broadway work. She is a descendant of Jonathan Fairbanks whose 17th century wood frame house still stands in Dedham, Massachusetts. She is also the aunt of actor Matthew Modine.

As a child, she joined the Meglin Kiddies Dance Troup where Shirley Temple was also a student. While her father, Alexander Revard Modine, worked for the Texaco Oil Company, Nola Jo's mother, Zella Vonola Fairbanks^[2] Modine, washed clothes to pay for her singing and dancing lessons during the Great Depression.

Modine's first movie role was as a "glorified extra" in The Corn Is Green in 1945,^[3] starring Bette Davis. Soon after, she joined the Lionel Barrymore production of the musical, Halloween at the Hollywood Bowl, and performed on The Standard Hour in addition to the Hollywood Canteen for servicemen.

Next, she went on tour as a soloist with the Sonja Henie Ice Show, completing two national tours. When the tours ended in New York, she stayed on with the show, named Howdy Mr. Ice at the Center Theatre in Rockefeller Center.

Nola's Broadway debut was in 1950 in the chorus of Cole Porter's Out of This World. She soon became an understudy and before long, assumed the lead. Summer stock performances included Miss Liberty with Dick Haymes in the Dallas Theatre as well as Die Fledermaus and finally Bloomer Girl in Toronto, Canada. Next, she joined the Broadway cast of Paint Your Wagon opposite James Barton, when Olga San Juan left the role of Jennifer Rumson. Nola took the show on tour with Burl Ives in the part her father, Ben Rumson. The role was strangely similar to her own mother's pioneer upbringing.

In 1952, Nola starred in the first musical production at the new Jones Beach Theatre in Long Island, New York. Mike Todd was the producer of this production of the Johann Strauss II operetta A Night In Venice.

After a winning performance on The Arthur Godfrey Radio Show, she appeared on his television show. Her final Broadway performance came when she was asked to replace Florence Henderson in the lead role in Fanny, co-starring Ezio Pinza. Nola married James Larkin in 1954 and had four children.

Nola revived her career in 1978 with appearances in a short-lived sketch comedy TV series, Madhouse Brigade, produced by her husband. In 1981, he produced an off-Broadway show called Romance Is^[4] where Nola performed with an ensemble cast. The show closed after a few performances.

Nola divorced in 1990 and currently lives in Greenwich, Connecticut.

References

1. ^ Genealogy of Ralph Jacobus Fairbanks
2. ^ Genealogy of Zella Vonola Fairbanks
3. ^ Credited as Nola Modine (Schoolgirl) in The Corn is Green on TCM
4. ^ New York Times

External links

• Nola Fairbanks at the Internet Broadway Database
• Mike Todd's A Night in Venice on Amazon.com
• Review of A Night in Venice in the San Antonio Express
• Nola Fairbanks website
• New York Times review of Romance Is (1981)

Persondata
Name	Fairbanks, Nola
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 10, 1924
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death