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 this a ...

and newspapers as the "American Bernhardt".

Early life

O'Neil was born in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

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 and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

in ''Sarah'' at the Alcazar Theatre in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

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 female minor stock character in opera and theatre, often a pert lady's maid. By extension, the term can refer generally to any saucy or flirtatious young woman. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means " ...

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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' 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'' 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, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

actress Adelaide Ristori. 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 List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, opposite such actors as Wilton Lackaye,

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 Sprin ...

, William Faversham, Thomas A. Wise, and Harriet MacGibbon. 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 productions. She appeared early in her career in ''True to Life'' at the Murray Hill Theatre in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

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, New York, U.S. Opened in 1913, the theater was designed by Henry Beaumont Herts in the It ...

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 asso ...

(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 without 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, w ...

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'' 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 company that produced motion pictures and was formed in 1914 by the theater "chain" pioneer William Fox (producer), William Fox. It was the corporate successor to ...

's facilities in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a Borough (New Jersey), borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades (Hudson River), The Palisades. As of the 2020 Uni ...

. 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 befo ...

, 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'', '' The Royal Bed'', 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-May ...

''; 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 who was Trial, tried and Acquittal, acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her Patricide, father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. No one else was c ...

while in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. 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 (né Alfred Scott Devereaux-Hickman), a British-born film actor who was previously married to actress Blanche Walsh. 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 ("brush"). Twelve species ...

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

Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until Abdication of Nicholas II, hi ...

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 in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of Engle ...

. 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 located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

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

columbarium A columbarium (; pl. columbaria), also called a cinerarium, is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns holding cremated remains of the dead. The term comes from the Latin ''columba'' (dove) and originally solel ...

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

Partial filmography

* ''

The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' () is an adventure novel by the French writer Alexandre Dumas. It was serialised from 1844 to 1846, and published in book form in 1846. It is one of his most popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers'' (184 ...

'' (1913) - Mercedes * '' The Kreutzer Sonata'' (1915) - Miriam Friedlander * ''Princess Romanoff'' (1915) - Princess Fedora Romanoff * '' A Woman's Past'' (1915) - Jane Hawley * '' Souls in Bondage'' (1916) - Rosa Brenner * '' The Witch'' (1916) - Zora Fernandez * '' The Flames of Johannis'' (1916) - Zirah / Marika * ''The Toilers'' (1916) - Jane Brett * ''

The Iron Woman ''The Iron Woman'' is a science fiction novel by British writer Ted Hughes, published in 1993. It is a sequel to the 1968 novel ''The Iron Man (novel), The Iron Man''. Synopsis "The Iron Woman has come to take revenge on mankind for its tho ...

'' (1916) - Sarah Maitland * ''Greed'' (1917) - Alma * '' The Seventh Sin'' (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. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

'' (1927) * '' His Glorious Night'' (1929) - Eugenie * '' Ladies of Leisure'' (1930) - Mrs.John Strong * ''

'' (1930) - Princess Alexandra * '' The Lady of Scandal'' (1930) - Lady Trench * '' The Florodora Girl'' (1930) - Mrs. Vibart * '' Call of the Flesh'' (1930) - Mother Superior * '' The Eyes of the World'' (1930) - Myra Willard * '' The Royal Bed'' (1931) - Queen Martha * '' Cimarron'' (1931) - Felice Venable * ''

'' (1931) - Princess Marya * '' The Good Bad Girl'' (1931) - Mrs. J.P. Henderson * '' Transgression'' (1931) - Honora 'Nora' Maury * '' A Woman of Experience'' (1931) - Countess Runyi * '' Their Mad Moment'' (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 i ...

'' (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 ...

'' (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 History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

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 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 Actresses from Englewood, New Jersey Actresses from Oakland, California American vaudeville performers Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) 20th-century American actresses Burials at Brookside Cemetery (Englewood, New Jersey)