David Beasley on Lizzie and Nance

[DWilly]

I just came across a book called McKee Rankin: And The Heyday Of The American Theater by David Beasley. Rankin was one of the early pioneers in American theater. His daughter Doris even married actor Lionel Barrymore. Rankin was also, manager, mentor and sort of a svengali to actress Nance O'Neil. In this book Beasley has a rather long chapter on Nance. Chpt. IV pages 285-415 " The Reign Of Nance O'Neil." He also has a little short piece on Lizzie pgs. 368-370 " Lizzie Borden Interlude." I don't know if this book has been discussed before or some of the things he writes about but I'm going to go ahead and hit on a few things I found interesting thus far:

In his piece on Lizzie he used Victoria Lincoln as his source. So, I guess you have to keep that in mind as you read on.

Beasley is of the opinion that both Nance and Rankin used Lizzie for money. On page 369, Beasley writes about Rankin, " Rankin's most glaring fault was his penchant for borrowing money with no intention of repayment." Basically, Beasley felt that Rankin felt the rich owed it to artists. That sort of thing.

Beasley then writes, " It is clear Rankin took advantage of Lizzie's infatuation with O'Neil in the same way he sought financial help from anyone, even their closet colleagues and friends, who was willing to help the cause of 'art'."

Beasley sort of paints this picture of Lizzie sort of flipping over Nance and that she "showered her with gifts" and then Nance turned around and sold them so she could pay of her debts.

One thing that was really interesting to me was the part where he wrote about another actress named Ricca Allen. Now you may have already heard this story but it was new to me. Anyway, Beasley writes that Lizzie first became friends with Ricca an actress also working with Rankin. I think she may have been a bit younger than Nance but I'm not sure. Here's a quote from the book on what was going on between Lizzie, Ricca and Nance"

" Some observers thought that O'Neil was using Lizzie, but Lizzie kept accounts of her loans to O'Neil. A year and a half later , she referred to them in a letter to Ricca Allen , asking for the return of the money. Allen, unaware of the loans, simply passed Lizzie's letter onto O'Neil. Allen herself was owed $225 by O'Neil and had to pawn her rings to raise that amount; she included in her demand for repayment the sum of $50, which she had borrowed from Lizzie Borden on behalf of Rankin. All of her money went to Rankin"



What was interesting to me, was first that Lizzie wrote a letter to Ricca Allen. I can't help but wonder if it's floating around out there somewhere. Also, in his notes Beasley writes that Allen's letter to Nance is dated Jan. 29, 1905, and that it's at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center. I would love to read the whole letter that Ricca wrote to Nance about Lizzie.


Overall Beasley paints this picture of Lizzie being a "fun-loving spirit" but still short and stout who when she threw that party for Nance at Maplecroft, "...had palm trees landscaped into her grounds as a romantic notion." Like I said, he used Lincoln as his source so I tend to think he has a certain way of seeing Lizzie. Although I don't discount his views on Nance and maybe even this Ricca taking advantage of Lizzie.

I havent' read the whole book but I'm going to read more about this Rankin. He was quite a character or should I say cad. In his youth he was a rather good looking man or so I thought but he's older than both Nance and Lizzie. He was born in 1844, and had a wife. As he got older he gained a lot of weight. Nance was younger than his daughters.

[Kashesan]

good stuff D! Thank you!

k

[DWilly]

A few more things about Nance:


She had several nervous breakdowns brought about by over work.

Nance was also rumored to have had a lesbian relationship with another actress named Clara Bracy. Beasley tends to dismiss the rumors as being nothing more than her enemies saying things about her.

Nance was on the East coast right around 1896, performing.

[nbcatlover]

DWilly--that's really interesting. For all the hype about Lizzie and Nance, Ricca Allen is someone new in the mix.

I had never heard of her, but just doing a search on the internet shows her in a number of bit parts in movies in the 1920s and 30s.

Good stuff, DWilly!

[stuartwsa]

Great find, Dwilly! Thanks for sharing!

[Harry]

Thanks DWilly... good detective work.

I found this on Ricca Allen:

Birth Date: 6/9/1863 (Makes her 3 years younger than Lizzie.)
Died Sept 13, 1949, age 86

Enjoying one of the longest careers in screen history, Canadian-born character actress Ricca Allen came to films in 1914 after decades on the legitimate stage. Specializing in playing spinsters, Allen also portrayed a witch in swimming star Annette Kellerman's Daughter of the Gods (1916) and menaced Viola Dana in Aladdin's Other Lamb (1917). There were many other such roles in the 1920s and Allen continued her busy career well into the sound era, often playing stern housekeepers or schoolteachers. By the 1940s, she rarely achieved onscreen billing but can be spotted as Mrs. Thing in Carole Lombard's They Knew What They Wanted (1940) and as one of the rock people in Hal Roach's One Million B.C. (1940). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide"

See http://movies.aol.com/celebrity/main.adp?sid=1057 for a list of her films.

[DWilly]

For those of you filling in your time lines here's an interesting one. Nance sold that Tyngsboro place in 1908. At least according to Beasley. It's on page 400. The Tynsboro place I guess is near Lowell, Massachuetts.