---
name: "Nancy Parsons"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/nancy-parsons"
fi1m_id: "nancy-parsons"
imdb_id: "nm0663878"
tmdb_id: 91842
wikidata_id: "Q273056"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "17 January 1942"
died: "5 January 2001"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 63
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-04T21:04:36.889329+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Nancy Parsons

## Identity

Nancy Parsons

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/nancy-parsons
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** nancy-parsons
- **IMDb ID:** nm0663878
- **TMDB ID:** 91842
- **Wikidata ID:** Q273056
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Parsons, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q273056, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0663878/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/91842

Actor. Born 17 January 1942 in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. Died 5 January 2001.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 17 January 1942, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
- **Died:** 5 January 2001
- **Active:** 1981–1989
- **Average Fi1m score:** 63, as actor, over 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 0 of 2 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Comedy 3, Drama 2, Action 1, Crime 1, Thriller 1
- **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $461m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Parsons, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q273056, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0663878/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/91842

## Fi1m on Nancy Parsons

> Nancy Parsons gave stern authority figures the physical presence and timing that broad comedy needs. We value the commitment, while wishing the school farces that made her name had found more for her to do.

In *Porky's II: The Next Day* (1983), Nancy Parsons's Balbricker gives the school farce a stern gym teacher to push against. Her physical presence and emphatic delivery make the character a useful opponent: she can establish authority quickly enough for the comedy to get on with challenging it. We like her willingness to play broadly, without apologising for how much of the joke depends on the adult being ridiculous. The limitation is that a character defined so firmly can leave a sequel with little to add.

Before *Porky's* (1981) made Balbricker her defining part, Parsons had played the menacing Ida Smith in *Motel Hell* (1980). Those two roles suggest why she suited both broad comedy and horror: she could make an exaggerated character seem sufficiently formidable to give the other performers something to react to. Balbricker returned again in *Porky's Revenge* (1985), while later work included Janice Van Meter in *Steel Magnolias* (1989) and television guest parts through the 1990s. Supporting roles remained the pattern, giving her repeated opportunities to establish a character but less room to develop one.

Bob Clark's *Porky's II: The Next Day* is agreeable enough for those already interested, and Parsons fits its blunt approach. There is wit in the film, though not enough invention to sustain all the repetition. We grew tired of the repeated jokes; the film too often returns to familiar material without finding enough fresh humour in it. That matters for an actor whose authority-figure role depends on comic exaggeration, because greater force is not necessarily going to make the next encounter funnier. Our reservations about the film should not obscure the skills she brings to it.

These parts offer limited evidence of what else Parsons might have done. They do show an actor who understood the value of physical confidence and precise timing in supporting comedy. Those skills are worth noticing even when the writing gives them routine work. Try *Motel Hell* for a part beyond the gym teacher, and keep expectations of the school sequels modest.

## Biography

Nancy Parsons was an American actress. She is known for her role as the gym teacher Beulah Balbricker in the comedy film *Porky's* (1981) and its sequels *Porky's II: The Next Day* (1983) and *Porky's Revenge* (1985).

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Parsons trained at the Pasadena Playhouse and later at UCLA. Her film debut came in *I Never Promised You a Rose Garden* (1977). She also appeared in *Motel Hell* (1980) as Ida Smith and had guest roles in television series including *Charlie's Angels*, *Family Ties*, *Moonlighting* and *Star Trek: The Next Generation* (1989). Parsons died in 2001.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, latimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *Steel Magnolias* (1989), Fi1m 67, as Janice Van Meter — [page](https://film.one/film/steel-magnolias.md)
- *Porky's II: The Next Day* (1983), Fi1m 61, as Balbricker — [page](https://film.one/film/porkys-ii-the-next-day.md)
- *Sudden Impact* (1983), Fi1m 65, as Mrs. Kruger — [page](https://film.one/film/sudden-impact.md)
- *Porky's* (1981), Fi1m 58, as Balbricker — [page](https://film.one/film/porkys.md)

## Complete filmography (40)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Amazing Stories: The Movie III* (1998), as Grendel
- *The Pretender* (1996), series, as Martha Bowman
- *Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee* (1994), as Sister Mary Margaret
- *Winter Heat* (1994), as Nurse Jackson
- *Wishman* (1992), as Miss Crabbe
- *Ladybugs* (1992), as Coach Annie
- *The Doctor* (1991), as Laurie
- *Death Falls* (1991), as Nurse
- *Silhouette* (1990), as Hotel Proprietor
- *Loose Cannons* (1990), as Nurse
- *Steel Magnolias* (1989), as Janice Van Meter — Fi1m 67, [page](https://film.one/film/steel-magnolias.md)
- *Homer and Eddie* (1989), as Maid
- *Star Trek: The Next Generation* (1987), series, as Sovereign Marouk — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/star-trek-the-next-generation.md)
- *Little Spies* (1986), as Camp Nurse
- *L.A. Law* (1986), series, as Mary Hennepin
- *Amazing Stories* (1985), series, as Grendel
- *Porky's Revenge* (1985), as Beulah Balbricker
- *Moonlighting* (1985), series, as Hospital Admissions Nurse — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/moonlighting.md)
- *The Duck Factory* (1984), series, Actor
- *Night Court* (1984), series, as Nurse
- *Sudden Impact* (1983), as Mrs. Kruger — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/sudden-impact.md)
- *Quarterback Princess* (1983), as Mrs. Klosterman
- *Porky's II: The Next Day* (1983), as Balbricker — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/film/porkys-ii-the-next-day.md)
- *White Water Rebels* (1983), as Georgia Gubser
- *Remington Steele* (1982), series, as Nurse Blackwell
- *Family Ties* (1982), series, as Nurse
- *Pennies from Heaven* (1981), as The Old Whore
- *Porky's* (1981), as Balbricker — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/porkys.md)
- *Smokey Bites the Dust* (1981), as Harold's Mother
- *Honky Tonk Freeway* (1981), as Alice the Teller
- *Motel Hell* (1980), as Ida Smith
- *Where the Buffalo Roam* (1980), as Head Nurse
- *The Lady in Red* (1979), as Tiny Alice
- *Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night* (1977), as Billie Rae
- *Lou Grant* (1977), series, Actor
- *American Raspberry* (1977), as Lady Mailperson
- *I Never Promised You a Rose Garden* (1977), as Singing Patient
- *Charlie's Angels* (1976), series, as Zora
- *Baretta* (1975), series, Actor
- *Days of Our Lives* (1965), series, as Mary Brooke

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/nancy-parsons