Conrad Nagel
Conrad Nagel was born in Keokuk, Iowa on
March 16, 1897. The son of Frank, a
musician, and Frances, a talented singer, it
is no surprise Nagel grew up to be a famous
silent and sound movie star.
The Nagel family was well known in
Keokuk as brewers. Pechstein and Nagel
Beer was brewed in Keokuk from 1860
until 1916. The brewery was located at
14th and Main Streets, later the site of the
Keokuk High School and Keokuk Middle
School.
When Nagel was three his family moved to Des Moines where his father
had gotten a job as the dean of Highland Park College. Nagel himself
attended Highland Park and after graduating moved to California to
pursue acting. In 1918, the six foot tall Nagel with his blue eyes and
blond hair was cast in the silent movie Little Women. Nagle’s real break
came in the 1920’s with the silent movie The Fighting Chance. In 1925,
Nagel starred in the silent movie Excuse Me, which was based on a play
written by Rupert Hughes, who had also moved to Hollywood from
Keokuk.
Nagel transitioned smoothly into the era of “talkies” and in 1928
appeared in one of the first, a movie titled Glorious Betsy. He also
appeared on television, had a radio show, and was a game show host. He
is remembered with three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for
his work in movies, another for his work in television, and a third for his
work in radio.
In 1927, Nagel helped to create the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and
Sciences and its Oscar Awards. Nagel was the President of the Academy
from 1932-1933 and hosted the third Academy Awards in 1930 and the
fifth Academy Awards in 1932. Twenty-one years later, he and Bob Hope
co-hosted the first televised Oscars on March 19, 1953. In 1940 Nagel
received an Honorary Academy Award for his “progressive leadership in
the film industry” by helping to establish the Motion Picture Relief
Fund. The fund, originally intended to help actors not able to transition
to talkies, helps motion picture actors who have fallen on hard times.
Nagel died February 24, 1970 at age 72 in New York City. His body was
cremated and the ashes interred at the Lutheran Cemetery in Warsaw,
Illinois