Nancy Kelley was born into a family of cowboys and rodeo hands in 1929. At age 4, traveling on the circuit with her father, Cleve Kelley, she learned her first rope trick. Five years later, she debuted with Harry Rowell’s rodeo. At 11, she performed at Pendleton, and at 17, she starred at Madison Square Garden as a trick rider.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Nancy Kelley, wearing outfits she designed and sewed, headlined at all the major venues. She changed the look of rodeo by convincing the H. D. Lee Company to make denim pants in a variety of colors. Once offered a Hollywood screen test, the beautiful and talented lady turned it down, preferring to stay in rodeo with her husband, Lynn Sheppard.
Nancy Kelley Sheppard retired in 1961, but she occasionally performed. In 1991, roping in Milan, Italy, at a Giorgio Armani fashion show, she was congratulated by an admirer who said, “I just want to shake your hand. You make me proud to be an American.”
Nancy Kelley Sheppard died in April 2026.
Bio
EVENTS Rodeo Trick Rider Rodeo Trick Roper
Nancy Kelley was born into a family of cowboys and rodeo hands in 1929. At age 4, traveling on the circuit with her father, Cleve Kelley, she learned her first rope trick. Five years later, she debuted with Harry Rowell’s rodeo. At 11, she performed at Pendleton, and at 17, she starred at Madison Square Garden as a trick rider.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Nancy Kelley, wearing outfits she designed and sewed, headlined at all the major venues. She changed the look of rodeo by convincing the H. D. Lee Company to make denim pants in a variety of colors. Once offered a Hollywood screen test, the beautiful and talented lady turned it down, preferring to stay in rodeo with her husband, Lynn Sheppard.
Nancy Kelley Sheppard retired in 1961, but she occasionally performed. In 1991, roping in Milan, Italy, at a Giorgio Armani fashion show, she was congratulated by an admirer who said, “I just want to shake your hand. You make me proud to be an American.”
