Holly Palance

Holly Palance (born August 5, 1950) 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 (1976). Palance also appeared in Pete Walker's horror film The Comeback (1978). 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 (1986) 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. Early years Holly Kathleen Palance was born on August 5, 1950 in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of 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. Career At age 19, 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.