Gertrude Lamson (October 8, 1874 – February 7, 1965), known professionally as Nance O'Neil or Nancy O'Neil, was an American stage and film actress who performed in plays in various theaters around the world but worked predominantly in the United States between the 1890s and 1930s.Young, William C
"Nance O'Neil"
''Famous Actors and Actresses on the American Stage: Documents of American Theater History'' (volume 2, K-Z), New York: R.R. Bowker Company, 1975, pp. 887-893.

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, San Francisco. Retrieved and borrowed on line December 26, 2019. At the height of her career, she was promoted on theater bills and in period

trade publications A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for thi ...

and newspapers as the "American

Bernhardt Bernhardt is both a given name and a surname, deriving from multiple languages, such as German. Notable people with the name include: Given name: *Bernhardt Esau (born 1957), Namibian politician and Deputy Ministry of Trade and Industry *Bernhardt ...

Early life

O'Neil was born in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

to George Lamson and Arre Findley.

Stage career

O'Neil's first performance in a professional production was in the role of a

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

in ''Sarah'' at the Alcazar Theatre in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

on October 16, 1893. Before returning to San Francisco in 1898 and 1899 as a star, headlining in the plays ''The Jewess'' and ''The Shadow'', she spent the preceding years honing her acting skills by playing in every type of venue, "from barns to first-class theatres", in towns throughout the country's West and Northwest.Young, p. 890. O'Neil later described that early period of her career as a time when she appeared "in fully a hundred characters, varying from

soubrette A soubrette is a type of operatic soprano voice ''fach'', often cast as a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy". Theatre In theatre, a soubrette is a ...

s to heavies." As her celebrity grew, after her success in San Francisco, O'Neil embarked on an around-the-world tour, performing in Hawaii, Australia, Egypt, and in many other locations overseas. Those extensive travels and stage appearances were managed by McKee Rankin—an actor, manager, and producer—who was instrumental in also making her a star in Australia and in overseeing her London debut at the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

on September 1, 1902, in the play ''Magda''. The next day, back in the United States, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported on that important performance in England, noting that in the early acts of the play O'Neil "gave an intense, imperious and unequal rendering of the part."NANCE O'NEIL IN 'MAGDA': American Actress's London Debut--The Papers Critical but Friendly", ''The New York Times'', September 2, 1902, page 9.

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Historical Newspapers. The newspaper, however, then added that the actress's "nervousness" later eased on stage and she "aroused the big audience to enthusiasm in the climax of the third act, and obtained a good reception." Unfortunately, two other plays in which O'Neil also starred in London that same month—''Camille'' and ''Elizabeth, Queen of England''—were poorly received by English critics and forced her to terminate early her plans for additional engagements there in October 1902. ''

The London Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' wholly dismissed her company's presentation of ''Camille'' as "flauntingly, overwhelming provincial" and criticized her performance in ''Elizabeth, Queen of England'' as "lacking tenderness". In 1906, in her role as the title character in an adaptation of ''Leah, the Forsaken'', O'Neil recreated the role made famous by

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

actress

Adelaide Ristori Adelaide Ristori (29 January 18229 October 1906) was a distinguished Italian tragedienne, who was often referred to as the Marquise. Biography She was born in Cividale del Friuli, the daughter of strolling players and appeared as a child on the ...

. She also appeared in ''Trilby'', ''Camille'', ''The Common Standard'', ''The Wanderer'', ''Macbeth'', ''Agnes'', ''Sappho'', ''The Passion Flower'', ''Hedda Gabler'', and many other productions in the United States and Europe. In 1908 a theater critic for ''The New York Times'' shared his opinions regarding O'Neil's acting talents, providing what he viewed as both the strengths and weaknesses of her performances: The statuesque O'Neil performed in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, opposite such actors as

Wilton Lackaye Wilton Lackaye (September 30, 1862 – August 22, 1932) was an American stage and film actor, who originated the role of Svengali (from the 1895 novel ''Trilby'') in both stage and film. Early life William Andrew Lackey was born in Loudoun Count ...

Edmund Breese Edmund Breese (June 18, 1871 – April 6, 1936) was an American stage and film actor of the silent era. Biography Breese was born in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Renshaw Breese and Josephine Busby. The Opera House in Eureka Springs ...

William Faversham William FavershamBlum, Daniel (c. 1954). ''Great Stars of the American Stage''. "Profile No. 46". 2nd ed. (12 February 1868 – 7 April 1940) was an English stage and film actor, manager, and producer. Biography He was born in London. As a t ...

, Thomas A. Wise, and

Harriet MacGibbon Harriet MacGibbon (born Harriet E. McGibbon; October 5, 1905 – February 8, 1987) was an American film, stage and television actress best known for her role as the insufferably snobbish, "blue-blooded Bostonian" Mrs. Margaret Drysdale in ...

. There were regular productions, including ''Ned McCobb's Daughter'', ''The Front Page'', and ''The Big Fight''. For over four decades, O'Neil also performed in a wide variety of

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

productions. She appeared early in her career in ''True to Life'' at the Murray Hill Theatre in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

in 1896 and then, late in her career, in ''Night in the House'' at the

Booth Theatre The Booth Theatre is a Broadway theater at 222 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1913, the theater was designed by Henry Beaumont Herts in the Italian Renaissance ...

in 1935.O'Neil"

Internet Broadway Database The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It was conceived and created by Karen Hauser in 1996 and is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade assoc ...

(IBDB), The Broadway League, New York, N.Y. Retrieved December 27, 2019.

Film

O'Neil began acting in

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

s with studios in New York and New Jersey before moving to California to work in Hollywood productions. Among her early films are the 1915 drama ''

The Kreutzer Sonata ''The Kreutzer Sonata'' (russian: Крейцерова соната, ) is a novella by Leo Tolstoy, named after Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 9 (Beethoven), Kreutzer Sonata. The novella was published in 1889, and was promptly censored by the Rus ...

'' and the 1916 five-reeler ''The Witch''. Both of those motion pictures were filmed at

Fox Film Corporation The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film ...

's facilities in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop the Palisades. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 40,191. As of the 2010 U.S. census, th ...

. More than a decade later, she made a successful transition to the

sound era A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

, although she retired from films after working a few years in the new medium. Some of O'Neil's screen appearances in that period include performances in the 1930 features ''

Ladies of Leisure ''Ladies of Leisure'' is a 1930 American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by Frank Capra and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Ralph Graves. The screenplay by Jo Swerling is based on the 1924 play ''Ladies of the Evening'' by Milton Herber ...

'', ''

The Royal Bed ''The Royal Bed'' is a 1931 American pre-Code satirical comedy film produced by William LeBaron and distributed through RKO. The film was directed by and starred Lowell Sherman, along with Mary Astor and Anthony Bushell. The screenplay was adapt ...

'', and ''

The Rogue Song ''The Rogue Song'' is a 1930 American pre-Code romantic and musical film that tells the story of a Russian bandit who falls in love with a princess, but takes his revenge on her when her brother rapes and kills his sister. The Metro-Goldwyn-Maye ...

''; in the 1931 releases '' Cimarron'' and '' Transgression''; and in the 1932 medical drama ''False Faces'', her final film.

Relationship with Lizzie Borden

In 1904, O'Neil met acquitted murder suspect

Lizzie Borden Lizzie Andrew Borden (July 19, 1860 – June 1, 1927) was an American woman tried and acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. No one else was charged in the murders, and despite ost ...

while in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. The two had a close friendship, which incited considerable gossip. O'Neil was referenced as a character in the musical ''Lizzie Borden: A Musical Tragedy in Two Axe'', where she was played by Suellen Vance. The women's implied romantic relationship was explored as well in the 2010 play ''Nance O'Neil'' by David Foley and the 2006 novel ''Miss Lizzie'' by Walter Satterthwait. O'Neil was also cited as a character in a play by William Norfolk, ''The Lights are Warm and Colored.'' Set in 1905, it uses Lizzie's friendship with O'Neil and other theatrical players as a vehicle for a play within a play. The actors recreate scenes from the murder trial in an improv-like setting, coached or criticized by Lizzie and Emma. The play implies that Lizzie was innocent, and the real perpetrator was the maid, who makes a surprise visit at the end.

Marriage and death

O'Neil in 1916 married

Alfred Hickman Alfred Hickman (25 February 1873 – 9 April 1931) was an English actor. He was married to actress Nance O'Neil Gertrude Lamson (October 8, 1874 – February 7, 1965), known professionally as Nance O'Neil or Nancy O'Neil, was an American ...

(né Alfred Scott Devereaux-Hickman), a British-born film actor who was previously married to actress

Blanche Walsh Blanche Walsh (January 4, 1873 – October 31, 1915) was a highly regarded American stage actress who appeared in one film, '' Resurrection'' based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy and the first three reel treatment of any Tolstoy story. Biograph ...

. The same year that Hickman and O'Neil married, they costarred in the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

film ''

The Witch A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft. Witch, WITCH, or variations thereof may also refer to: Animals * Witch (lefteye flounder) (''Arnoglossus scapha''), a Pacific flatfish * Witch (righteye flounder) (''Glyptocephalus cynoglossus''), a Euro ...

''. Then they costarred on screen again in 1917, portraying Emperor

Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

and Empress Alexandra in '' The Fall of the Romanoffs''. O'Neil's marriage to Hickman continued for another 14 years, until Alfred's death in 1931. In her final years, O'Neil resided at the

Lillian Booth Actors Home The Lillian Booth Actors Home of The Actors Fund is an American assisted-living facility, in Englewood, New Jersey. It is operated by the Actors Fund, a nonprofit umbrella charitable organization that assists American entertainment and performi ...

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from por ...

. She died there, at age 90, on February 7, 1965. A

cinerary urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...

containing her ashes was transported to Forest Lawn Memorial Park in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

. There, her remains were placed in the park's

columbarium A columbarium (; pl. columbaria) is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns, holding cremated remains of the deceased. The term can also mean the nesting boxes of pigeons. The term comes from the Latin "'' colu ...

, inside the niche that also holds her husband Alfred's cinerary urn.

Partial filmography

* ''

The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (french: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel written by French author Alexandre Dumas (''père'') completed in 1844. It is one of the author's more popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers''. Li ...

'' (1913) - Mercedes * ''

'' (1915) - Miriam Friedlander * ''Princess Romanoff'' (1915) - Princess Fedora Romanoff * '' A Woman's Past'' (1915) - Jane Hawley * ''

Souls in Bondage ''Souls in Bondage'' is a lost 1916 silent film drama directed by Edgar Lewis and produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company. Nance O'Neil stars.The Witch A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft. Witch, WITCH, or variations thereof may also refer to: Animals * Witch (lefteye flounder) (''Arnoglossus scapha''), a Pacific flatfish * Witch (righteye flounder) (''Glyptocephalus cynoglossus''), a Euro ...

'' (1916) - Zora Fernandez * '' The Flames of Johannis'' (1916) - Zirah / Marika * ''The Toilers'' (1916) - Jane Brett * '' The Iron Woman'' (1916) - Sarah Maitland * ''Greed'' (1917) - Alma * ''

The Seventh Sin ''The Seventh Sin'' is a 1957 American drama film directed by Ronald Neame and starring Eleanor Parker, Bill Travers and George Sanders. It is based on the 1925 novel '' The Painted Veil'' by W. Somerset Maugham. Plot In post-World War II Hong ...

'' (1917) - Alma * ''Mrs. Balfame'' (1917) - Mrs. Balfame * ''Hedda Gabler'' (1917) - Hedda Gabler * '' The Final Payment'' (1917) - Nina * '' The Fall of the Romanoffs'' (1917) - Czarina Alexandra * ''Seven Deadly Sins'' (1917) - Alma (Greed) & (Seventh Sin) * ''

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...

'' (1927) * ''

His Glorious Night ''His Glorious Night'' is a 1929 pre-Code American romance film directed by Lionel Barrymore and starring John Gilbert in his first released talkie. The film is based on the 1928 play ''Olympia'' by Ferenc Molnár. ''His Glorious Night'' has ...

'' (1929) - Eugenie * ''

'' (1930) - Mrs.John Strong * ''

'' (1930) - Princess Alexandra * ''

The Lady of Scandal ''The Lady of Scandal'' is a 1930 American pre-Code romance, comedy film, melodrama directed by Sidney Franklin based on the 1927 play '' The High Road'' by Frederick Lonsdale and starring Ruth Chatterton, Basil Rathbone and Ralph Forbes. Its ...

'' (1930) - Lady Trench * '' The Florodora Girl'' (1930) - Mrs. Vibart * '' Call of the Flesh'' (1930) - Mother Superior * '' The Eyes of the World'' (1930) - Myra Willard * ''

'' (1931) - Queen Martha * '' Cimarron'' (1931) - Felice Venable * ''

'' (1931) - Princess Marya * ''

The Good Bad Girl ''The Good Bad Girl'' is a 1931 American romance film based on a novel by Winifred Van Duzer. Cast * Mae Clarke as Marcia Cameron * James Hall as Bob Henderson * Marie Prevost as Trixie Barnes * Robert Ellis as Dapper Dan Tyler * Nance O'Neil ...

'' (1931) - Mrs. J.P. Henderson * '' Transgression'' (1931) - Honora 'Nora' Maury * '' A Woman of Experience'' (1931) - Countess Runyi * ''

Their Mad Moment ''Their Mad Moment'' is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy drama film directed by Chandler Sprague and starring Dorothy Mackaill, Warner Baxter and ZaSu Pitts. An uncredited Hamilton MacFadden also directed some scenes. It is based on the 1927 n ...

'' (1931) - Grand Mere * ''

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

'' (1931) - Mrs. Varney * ''

Westward Passage ''Westward Passage'' is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by Robert Milton and starring Ann Harding, Laurence Olivier, ZaSu Pitts and Irving Pichel. The screenplay concerns a woman who falls in love and marries, but soon discovers ho ...

'' (1932) - Mrs. von Stael (uncredited) * ''False Faces'' (1932) - Mrs. Finn

References and notes

External links

*
Nance O'Neil filmography
at the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

Nance O'Neil biography
on famousandgay.com

on lizzieandrewborden.com *
How Lizzie Borden Got Away With Murder
' on http://crimemagazine.com

by John Corrado * performed by the St. Louis City Players, 1969
Nance O'Neil page at Corbis
* Nance O'Neil and

Elsie Ferguson Elsie Louise Ferguson (August 19, 1883 – November 15, 1961) was an American stage and film actress. Early life Born in New York City, Elsie Ferguson was the only child of Hiram and Amelia Ferguson. Her father was a successful attorney. Raise ...

i
"The House of Women"(1927)Nance O'Neil, gallery
; University of Washington, Sayre collection (*upgraded to new url) {{DEFAULTSORT:Oneil, Nance 1874 births 1965 deaths People from Englewood, New Jersey Actresses from Oakland, California Vaudeville performers Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) 20th-century American actresses Burials at Brookside Cemetery (Englewood, New Jersey)