Basic Facts
- Name: Nellie O'Malley
- Birthday: October 15, 1896
Nellie starts the series as a shy servant girl; she lives with her father, mother, and two sisters Jenny and Bridget. Nellie's family are Irish immigrants and thus not looked upon well in American society. In Nellie's Promise, Nellie mentions that she spent her eighth birthday working in a factory, and did not have a celebration that year.
Nellie is first seen in Meet Samantha working for the Rylands as a servant. She defers to Samantha and her family because she is of a lower class, even calling Samantha "miss" and fretting that she might be seen with her. She is described as shorter and smaller than Samantha and not very healthy due to having done hard factory work that has weakened her health. This eventually leads to her being dismissed by the Rylands because Mrs. Ryland does not think she will last. She has worked several years of her young life by the time Samantha meets her, first in a factory and then as a house servant, and initially had never gone to school until Samantha Learns A Lesson. She is practical where Samantha is fanciful; when Samantha says that Jessie has left to be an actress and goes into fantastical reasons for her departure, Nellie simply concludes--correctly--that Jessie may have a baby.
Initially, Nellie was a foil to Samantha to reflect her poorer, more rough life. However she was lifted in status when she becomes part of Samantha's family; she and her sisters are adopted by Gardner Edwards and Cornelia Edwards at the end of Changes For Samantha.
Nellie is extremely apprehensive of letting people get close to her or getting too informal with people she perceives as her betters; even after living with Gardner and Cornelia for two months, she still calls him "sir" and is very distant. She is extremely protective of her younger sisters and, to some extent, of the more naive Samantha. She is mechanically skilled; Miss Brennan calls her 'Miss Nellie O'Malley-All-Mended" because of the way she was able to disassemble and reassemble things to repair them. She learned some car tinkering from her father as he was into motorcars. She sings well and, due to her work in the settlement house, speaks some German and Italian. She feels that she must be useful and practical, a side effect of having worked her entire life.
American Girl characterizes her as "practical" and "hardworking."
Nellie O'Malley was the first Best Friend doll released; she is the "Best Friend" of Samantha Parkington.
In October 2008, American Girl announced their intent to "archive" Samantha Parkington's entire collection; she, Nellie, and their collections are no longer available for purchase online or through catalogs with the exception of books. The Nellie doll and all items in her collection have been retired. It is unknown if Samantha and Nellie will ever be available again after the archiving.
