Melissa Yandell Smith, ‘Nomadland’ actress, dead at 64

The star served as Conservatory Director at A.C.T. from 1995 until declining health prompted her departure in December 2020.

Smith, whose lifelong friendship with McDormand began when they were classmates at the Yale School of Drama in the late 1970s, played "Nomadland’s" Dolly, the sister of McDormand’s character Fern. In the film, she movingly delivers a line of dialogue to McDormand, saying: "You could see me when I was hiding from everybody else. Sometimes you could see me before I saw myself. I needed that in my life."

Smith served as Conservatory Director at A.C.T. from 1995 until declining health prompted her departure in December 2020. During her tenure at A.C.T., she redesigned and maintained the conservatory’s internationally recognized Master of Fine Arts program.