Holly Kathleen Palance is an American former actress and journalist. She is perhaps best known for her role as the nanny of Damien Thorn in Richard Donner's The Omen. Palance also appeared in Pete Walker's horror film The Comeback. Beginning in 1984, she also co-hosted the series Ripley's Believe it or Not! with her father, Jack Palance. Palance also had a leading role opposite Robin Williams and Kurt Russell in the comedy The Best of Times before retiring from acting. She later shifted to a career in journalism, serving as the editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Timess lifestyle magazine.
Biography
Holly Kathleen Palance was born on August 5, 1950 in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of the actor Jack Palance and his wife Virginia Baker. Holly was the first of three children born to the couple. She is of Ukrainian descent. Palance spent her early life in Los Angeles before relocating with her father to Europe in 1957, where she lived in several European countries over the next seven years, including Switzerland, Italy, and Germany. At age nineteen, Palance enrolled in a three-year acting program in London. Before appearing onscreen, Palance performed in theater in England beginning in 1971, appearing in productions at the Oxford Playhouse and in London's West End. She continued to work primarily in England for the remainder of the decade. Palance played Lois Lane opposite Christopher Reeve in his screen test for the title role in Superman. The tests included scenes from the balcony interview in Superman and the Niagara Fallshotel room scene from Superman 2, where Reeve played Clark Kent; this footage was released to the public as an extra feature on a special edition DVD release of the film in the early 2000s. Palance is notable for her role as an ill-destined young nanny in The Omen, alongside Gregory Peck and Lee Remick. In 1979, after spending eight years working in England, Palance returned to her native United States. Palance co-hosted the television version of Ripley's Believe It or Not! with her father for two seasons in 1983 and 1984, replacing Jack's former co-host, Catherine Shirriff; Holly would later be replaced as co-host by singer Marie Osmond. She married Tomorrow Never Dies director Roger Spottiswoode on 9 April 1983; they had two children and later divorced in 1997. Palance had a leading role opposite Robin Williams and Kurt Russell in the comedy The Best of Times, her final theatrical film. She appeared in the 1989 television filmCast the First Stone before formally retiring from acting. After leaving acting, Palance began working as a journalist, heading the Santa Barbara Magazine, and later serving as the editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Timess lifestyle magazine. In 2010, Palance married journalist Robert Wallace.
