Born in Prairie Hill, Texas, in the year 1909, lovely Nell O'Day possessed the undeniable breeding credentials to become a leading lady of westerns. Her early years were marked by a childhood spent dancing, commencing in the early 1920s, which later led to her performing with the renowned Tommy Atkins Sextet. This initial success was the catalyst for her to secure a part in the early musical "King of Jazz" released in 1930, and subsequently, she appeared alongside dancer Eleanor Powell in the stage play "Fine and Dandy". This experience served as the impetus for her to attempt her luck at a film career. A series of comedy shorts with the esteemed Harry Langdon marked the beginning of her cinematic journey, accompanied by a few secondary parts in feature films, including "This Side of Heaven" (1934) alongside Lionel Barrymore, "Woman in the Dark" (1934) featuring Fay Wray, and a noteworthy part in the exploitation film "The Road to Ruin" (1934),produced by the low-rent filmmaker Willis Kent.
In the 1940s, she joined Universal's roster of western players, and thanks to her extensive experience as a horsewoman, she secured a recurring cowgirl role in a series of hoss operas opposite star Johnny Mack Brown and his sidekick Fuzzy Knight. She also appeared in the horror film "Mystery of Marie Roget" (1942) alongside Maria Montez and went on to feature in westerns for other studios, including Republic and Monogram.
Notably, she returned to the stage on occasion and retired in 1945 after performing in the Broadway play "Many Happy Returns". She then devoted herself full-time to writing, and one of her notable successes was the play "The Bride of Denmark Hill", which was later adapted into a BBC-TV production in England. Throughout her life, she was married and divorced on multiple occasions. Ultimately, she passed away in the year 1989.
