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Nancy Kovack Profile
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| 11 March 35 | is born in Flint, Michigan, to Mr. and Mrs. Michael A. Kovack |
| ? | enters the freshman class at the University of Michigan at age 15 |
| ? | graduates from the University of Michigan with a BA degree at age 19 |
| ? | is holder of eight beauty titles at age 20 |
| 58 | debuts on Broadway in Disenchanted |
| becomes a regular on Dave Garroway’s "Today Show" and "Beat the Clock" |
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| ? | is one of Jackie Gleason’s Glea Girls |
| October 59 | as Nancy Kovac, she's witch of the year on ABC-TV's "Charlie Weaver's Hobby Lobby" |
| 59 | is discovered by Columbia talent scouts |
| February 60 | columnist Earl Wilson reports: "Nancy Kovack, the beauty from Detroit, studied Italian at Berlitz so she could do films in Europe. And sure enough, a producer she met at a party at Kirk Douglas' house asked her to audition here for a European TV series. 'About Paris,' he explained..." |
| September 60 | Wilson knows that she's getting long distance phone calls from Cary Grant and has signed a Columbia Pictures contract |
| January 61 | is reported getting time off from "Beat the Clock" to do Jerry Lewis' Ladies' Man |
| Wilson reports: "Nancy Kovack is being called to Hollywood to get her long overdue buildup at Columbia..." |
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| February 61 | columnist Lee Mortimer notes: "That was film beaut Nancy Kovack and Peter Romano, the handsome young actor..." |
| March 61 | Mortimer is back on her telling: "Police honor legion's Scoop Rettig had a beaut on each arm at Al Cooper's show biz hangout: Nancy Kovack who ain't marrying Peter Romano, and Ina Balin..." |
| is wanted for a role in The Captives, "which already has Kim Novak..." |
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| May 61 | Wilson reports her screaming about the absence of bathtubs at the Cartegena, Columbia, film festival. "She's glad to be back in NY where there are bathtubs aplenty..." |
| July 61 | declares she’s studying French because she enjoys it and Italian for a special reason: "My boyfriend, Peter Romano, a wonderful actor just starting out, is Italian." When asked if she's going steady, she says: "Put it this way. I've been going out with Peter for some time. But right now I'm in show business, and I want to make a success of it. So does Peter. Until I'm established, it's going to be my No. 1 objective." |
| resides at an apartment in Manhattan. The press claims she has an I. Q. of 158. |
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| Wilson tells that she's about to make it big: "She has three pictures - one in Yugoslavia - and a ‘U. S. Steel’ telecast scheduled, and Sam Spiegel's flying her to London to test for Dangerous Silence. She attributes her break to her religious faith..." |
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| August 61 | columnist Walter Winchell notes her at the Coachman snuggling with TV producer Peter Arnell |
| September 61 | as "Miss Austin Healy," she promotes the Sprite, a British Motors import, with her 35-21-35 figure |
| December 61 | returns from Rome after five months away making Jason and the Golden Fleece |
| January 62 | Wilson reports her home from Rome for the holidays finding "her apartment in the East 50s jimmed..." |
| March 62 | the press tells: "While Nancy Kovack is in Europe starring in Jason and the Golden Fleece, she is having her New York apartment re-painted in purple, blue and white" |
| September 62 | enters the University of California at Los Angeles aiming for a master’s degree |
| May 63 | is reported up for a radio fashion show |
| October 63 | is seen at the Chateau Madrid with Dan Topping, Jr. |
| January 64 | Wilson tells she denies being married, as reported |
| September 64 | poses in an Edith Head-designed bridal attire on the Paramount set of Sylvia |
| November 64 | Winchell tells about "Nancy Kovack's new sweetie: Candlelight for two: Nancy Kovack, the film beaut, who has been romantically itemened with thisnthat lad, trysting with her Big Secret beau, Peter Romano, actor..." |
| End 64 | wins her part in Tarzan and the Valley of Gold when producer Martin Ransohoff decides against Sharon Tate |
| January 65 | starts filming Tarzan and the Valley of Gold in Acapulco, Mexico |
| ? | leaves business for two years to travel Afghanistan and Russia |
| ? | returns to the States after a year of picture-making in Iran. "Going to Iran was the culmination of a seven-year dream for Miss Kovack, who had spent time between television and motion picture roles working toward a master's degree in languages at the University of California at Los Angeles, concentrating on Farsi, the language of Iran." |
| October 67 | attends Joan Cohn's fancy birthday party for Laurence Harvey with Charles Kahn |
| November 67 | is pictured at the premiere of Camelot chatting with Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. |
| January 68 | is called back to play Darren's fiancée Sheila in the "Bewitched" segment "Snob in the Grass" three years after her debut as Sheila in the series' premiere show on September 17, 1964 |
| April 68 | is among the guests at Richard Gully's dinner given at the Bistro for the de Vogues. Columnist Suzy knows she is just back from a visit to Russia, where she was more fascinated by Samarkand than by Moscow or Leningrad..." |
| July 68 | she and producer Brad Dexter are among the twosomes at a black-tie party given by the New Yorkers Joe Gaumont and Arthur Guttman |
| November 68 | is William Shatner's date at the party Decca Records throws for him |
| December 68 | meets columnist Earl Wilson at the Beverly Hills Polo Lounge to discuss her new movie, Marooned |
| January 69 | she and Bill Shatner are a twosome around town at Stefanino's |
| 31 May 69 | her parents disclose that she will marry conductor Zubin Mehta of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra on July 19 in Los Angeles. "Mehta is on the leave from the Los Angeles orchestra conducting the Maggio Fiorentina music festival in Florence, Italy. He will fulfill engagements in Rome and Israel before returning to Los Angeles in July. They will be married in the traditional ceremony of the Zoroastrian religion which originated in Iran." |
| 19 July 69 | marries Bombay-born maestro Zubin Mehta in Los Angeles. He's 33; the press gives her age as 33. They exchange vows first in a Christian ceremony at the Westwood United Methodist Church and later in a Zoroastrian ceremony at the Bel Air Hotel. About 120 guests attend. Afterwards, the couple is expected to leave for a honeymoon in the South Pacific. Mehta was born in Bombay, India, in 1936, made a debut with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1959, which was so successful that he was invited to conduct a number of leading orchestras, making his Metropolitan Opera conducting debut in 1965. During the coming years she will spend a good portion of his millions. |
| Mid-August 69 | columnist Dorothy Manner tells: "The newlyweds Nancy Kovack and maestro Zubin Mehta did not leave immediately on their South Pacific honeymoon as the wedding guests were told. They checked into the Sheraton-Universal hotel for three days before taking off..." |
| May 70 | tells the press that she got herself an absentminded man. "They bought a small house in one of Bel Air's busiest canyons. Small, because they are on the road almost half the year. 'But it is so small,' Nancy says, 'that Zubin can't seem to find it. I watch for him out the window and he goes whizzing past it without stopping. Then I have to go out and follow him.'" |
| February 71 | the press notes that she now wants to be billed as Nancy Kovack Mehta |
| November 73 | is noted out with her husband wearing a white wool outfit trimmed in rhinestones |
| February 79 | as the stunning blonde wife of New York Philharmonic director Zubin Mehta, she's noted at a small dinner party given at La Roche by Denise and Prentiss Cobb Hale to honor Mary Lasker. She wears a white silk pleated Mary McFadden. |
| 86 | plays George Sand in Chopin, Liszt and their Literary Ladies at Merkin Hall |
| 98 | resides in Brentwood, California |
| September 98 | makes headlines when she claims that 43-year-old Susan McDougal, former partner of the Clintons in Whitewater, embezzled more than $50,000 from the Mehtas during her employment as her bookkeeper and personal assistant from 1989 to 1992. Nancy testifies in Santa Monica Court that she travels often with her husband and left pre-signed checks at home to be used to pay household expenses while the couple was away. |
| 23 November 98 | Susan McDougal is acquitted in Santa Monica court of embezzling from Mehta and his wife. She described her employer, Nancy, as a sister-like friend who showered her with gifts. She said they became inseparable, lunching together in fine restaurants and shopping "like tornadoes" at the best stores in Beverly Hills. Finally she moved into the Mehta home. Susan portrayed Nancy as a lonely woman whose husband traveled abroad most of the year and left her to manage his finances. |
| 02 | resides in Munich, Germany, where her husband is music director of the Bavarian State Opera |
| 07 | resides in Berlin and parts her time between Berlin and Hamburg, Germany |
| Sources: Film Fatales by Tom Lisanti and Louis Paul, "Joan of Arkansas" by Judy Bachrach in Vanity Fair, "Sharon Tate" in Fallen Angels by Kirk Crivello, The Valley Independent, Family Weekly, San Mateo Times, Long Beach Press-Telegram, The Lowell Sun, Burlington Daily Times-News, Humboldt Standard, The Lowell Sun, The Hammond Times, Nevada State Journal, Long Beach Independent, Reno Evening Gazette, Star-News, The Lima News, New Castle News, TV Times, Syracuse Herald-Journal, Northwest Arkansas Times, Mansfield News-Journal, The Messengers, The Post-Standard | |
| Recommended Books: Film Fatales by Tom Lisanti and Louis Paul | |
| Links: Filmography Nancy Kovak at Spooky's Nightmare Mansion Brian's Drive-In Theater: Nancy Kovack | |