GREAT DETECTIVES & PEOPLE OF MYSTERY #27

NANCY DREW

A cultural icon, Nancy Drew is cited as a formative influence by a number of women including Sandra Day O'Connor, Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, Barbra Streisand, Barbara Walters, and Oprah Winfrey.  The teenage detective heroine (she's only 16) solves crimes that generally take place in old dark houses, secret passages, and underground caves.  Many of her adventures, aimed at the 8-13 age group, are set in foreign countries.  Nancy is highly intelligent and extraordinarily brave, and she ventures into situations that grown men would avoid.  Her best friends and constant companions are George Fayne, a "slender, boyish-looking girl with close-cropped brown hair", and Bess Marvin, who is pretty, a little plump, and more fearful than Nancy and George.  Nancy's boyfriend, Ned Nickerson, attends Emerson, an out-of-town college but is often present to help solve a mystery.  Her mother is dead but her father, Carson Drew, an eminent attorney, often helps his daughter at critical moments.  He, in turn, gives her cases allied with his work. 

Nancy is a 16-year-old high school graduate.  "As immaculate and self-possessed as a Miss America on tour," wrote one critic, adding, "She is as cool as Mata Hari and as sweet as Betty Crocker."  She had studied psychology at school and was familiar with the power of suggestion and association.  She was a fine painter, spoke French, was a skilled driver of motor boats and cars, was a sure shot, an excellent swimmer, skillful oarsman, expert seamstress, gourmet cook, and fine bridge player.  She brilliantly played golf and tennis, rode like a cowboy, danced like Ginger Rogers, and could administer first aid like the Mayo brothers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Like the earlier Hardy Boys, the character of Nancy was conceived by Edward Stratemeyer and written by others under the house pseudonym of Carolyn Keene.  The first novels were written by Mildred Wirt Benson and she composed 22 of the first 25 titles.  The Stratemeyer Syndicate produced successful series of books aimed at a youthful audience like Tom Swift, the Rover Boys, the Bobbsey Twins, Bomba the Jungle Boy, the Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew.  Founded in 1906 they published 1200 books under 46 pseudonyms with sales exceeding hundreds of millions.  Worldwide sales of Nancy Drew are at 80 million and the books have been translated into 45 languages.  The first four titles were published by Grosset & Dunlap in 1930 and sold so well that G&D were clamoring for more.  The 6000 copies that Macy's ordered for the 1933 Christmas season sold out within days.  In 1934 Fortune magazine featured the Syndicate in a cover story and singled out Nancy Drew for particular attention: "Nancy is the greatest phenomenon among all the fifty-centers.  She is a best-seller.  How she crashed a Valhalla that had been rigidly restricted to the male of her species is a mystery to even her publishers."

The titles in the Nancy Drew series are in the hundreds and I will only list the first few.

1930 "The Secret of the Old Clock"/  1930 "The Hidden Staircase"/  1930 "The Bungalow Mystery"/  1930 "The Mystery at Lilac Inn"/  1931 "The Secret of Shadow Ranch"/  1931 "The Secret of Red Gate Farm"/  1932 "The Clue in the Diary"/  1932 "Nancy's Mysterious Letter"

56 titles were published by Grosset & Dunlap between 1930 and 1979.  At the insistence of G&D the books were revised beginning in 1959 to make the novels more current for a newer audience and to eliminate racial stereotypes.  Simon & Schuster too over the publication of the series with book #57 "The Triple Hoax" until #175 "Werewolf in a Winter Wonderland" in 2003.

Simon & Schuster had several spin-off series.  The Nancy Drew Files, 124 books, 1986-1997.  Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Super Mystery, 36 books, 1988-1998.  Nancy Drew On Campus, 25 books, 1995-1998.  Nancy Drew: Girl Detective, 47 books, 2004-2012.  Girl Detective Super Mysteries, 4 books, 2005-2008.  Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, 40 books, 2006-2015.  Graphic Novels, 21 books, 2014-2017.

FILMS

"Nancy Drew, Detective" WB, 1938.  Bonita Granville (Nancy), Frankie Thomas (Ned), John Litel (Carson Drew), Dick Purcell.  Director: William Clemens.  Based on "The Password to Larkspur Lane" (1933).  Nancy is suspicious when an elderly woman who had promised her school a large endowment suddenly disappears.

"Nancy Drew, Reporter" WB, 1939.  Granville, Thomas, Litel, Mary Lee, Dickie Jones.  Director: Clemens.  Nancy, working on a newspaper as part of a school assignment, is sure that a girl held for murder after an inquest is innocent.

"Nancy Drew, Trouble Shooter" WB, 1939.  Granville, Thomas, Litel, Charlotte Wynters.  Director: Clemens.  Nancy tries to help one of her father's friends who has been accused of murder.

"Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase" WB, 1939.  Granville, Thomas, Litel.  Director: Clemens.  Nancy aids two elderly sisters whose homestead has been threatened when she discovers a secret passage.

To promote the film series Warner Brothers created a Nancy Drew fan club with Granville as honorary president and a kit for the club came with an autographed picture of her.

"Nancy Drew" WB, 2007.  Emma Roberts (Nancy), Max Thieriot (Ned), Tate Donovan.  Director: Andrew Fleming.

"Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase" WB, 2019.  Sophia Lillis (Nancy), Zoe Renee, Mackenzie Graham, Linda Lavin, Sam Trammell.  Director: Katt Shea.

TELEVISION

In 1957 Desilu and CBS developed a show "Nancy Drew, Detective" based on the movies of the 1930s.  Roberta Shore was Nancy, Tim Considine was Ned Nickerson, and Frankie Thomas (who played Ned in the movies) was Carson Drew.  A pilot was produced in April 1957 but the series couldn't find a sponsor.  It was eventually abandoned.

"The Hardy Boys/ Nancy Drew Mysteries" ABC, January 30, 1977 - January 14, 1979.  Pamela Sue Martin (Nancy), Jean Rasey (George), George O'Hanlon, Jr. (Ned), William Schallert (Carson Drew).  The first season alternated with a Hardy Boys mystery one week and Nancy Drew the next.  The second season the format shifted with the Hardy Boys as the more prominent characters and Nancy making crossover appearances.  Martin left the show halfway through the second season complaining that her character was being marginalized (and the controversy over her posing for a pictorial in Playboy) and she was replaced by Janet Louise Johnson.  Nancy Drew was entirely dropped for the third season after which ABC canceled the series.  The Nancy Drew episodes of the first season are regarded as the most faithful adaptation of the character and Pamela Sue Martin was regarded by Nancy's fans as the best actress to have portrayed her.

"Nancy Drew" 1995 series with Tracy Ryan as Nancy.  13 episodes were produced and syndicated on the WB and UPN networks.  The shows aired September 23 - December 16, 1995, and was canceled due to poor ratings.

"Nancy Drew" made-for-TV movie, aired on ABC's "The Wonderful World of Disney" December 15, 2002, with Maggie Lawson as Nancy.  It was intended to be a proposed pilot but no series resulted.

"Nancy Drew" TV series premiered on CW October 9, 2019 with Kennedy McMann as Nancy.  This series is not faithful to its source material, opting for soap opera-esque storylines.  Ned is a former criminal.  January 28, 2022 was the last episode...so far.

MERCHANDISING

Parker Brothers issued the "Nancy Drew Mystery Game" in 1957.  A 1967 Nancy Drew doll came with binoculars and a camera for mystery solving.  There have been various Nancy Drew coloring, activity, and puzzle books over the years from the 1950s-1970s.  A Halloween costume and lunchbox were produced with a tie-in to the 1977 TV show.