Nance O'Neil

Gertrude Lamson, better known by her stage name Nance O'Neil, was an American actress whose career spanned more than four decades, from the rugged barns of the Western frontier to the glittering lights of Broadway and Hollywood. Born on October 8, 1874 in Oakland, California, she entered the professional theatre world on October 16, 1893, playing a nun in Sarah at San Francisco’s Alcazar Theatre, and quickly earned a reputation for versatility, claiming to have performed “fully a hundred characters, varying from soubrettes to heavies.” After honing her craft across a variety of venues, she returned to San Francisco as a star in productions such as The Jewess and The Shadow, and soon embarked on a global tour that took her to Hawaii, Australia, Egypt and Europe, where McKee Rankin managed her rise, culminating in a London debut at the Adelphi Theatre on September 1, 1902 in Magda. Though her early London reviews were mixed, her powerful voice and imposing stage presence earned her the nickname the American Bernhardt in U.S. trade papers, and a New York Times critic later praised her “massive beauty” and “splendid organ” of a voice while noting occasional monotony. Throughout the 1900s she appeared in numerous productions, including a celebrated turn as the title character in Leah, the Forsaken, and roles in Trilby, Hedda Gabler, and Macbeth, sharing the stage with noted actors such as Wilton Lackaye and William Faversham. On Broadway she debuted in True to Life (1896) and concluded with Night in the House (1935).

Transitioning to film, O'Neil began in silent pictures at Fox’s Fort Lee studio, starring in The Kreutzer Sonata (1915) and The Witch (1916), and later embraced the sound era with roles in Ladies of Leisure (1930), The Rogue Song (1930), Cimarron (1931) and her final picture, False Faces (1932). In 1916 she married British‑born actor Alfred Hickman, with whom she co‑starred in The Witch and The Fall of the Romanoffs; their marriage lasted until his death in 1931. The actress maintained a close friendship with Lizzie Borden after meeting her in Boston in 1904, a relationship that inspired later theatrical works. In her final years she lived at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey, passing away on February 7, 1965 at age 90; her ashes rest alongside her husband's at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.