Nance O'Neil

Nance O'Neil

Born: October 6, 1874
Died: February 7, 1965
in Oakland, California, USA
Nance O'Neil, born Gertrude Lamson, was an American stage and screen actress. When she decided to become an actress, her religious father, George Lamson, an auctioneer, denounced his daughter in church for going on the stage and asked the congregation to pray for her. O'Neil's first performance in a professional production was in the role of a nun in Sarah at the Alcazar Theatre in San Francisco on October 16, 1893. At the height of her career, she was promoted on theatre bills and in period trade publications and newspapers as the "American Sarah Bernhardt".

Movies for Nance O'Neil...

A Criminal at Large
Title: A Criminal at Large
Character: Lady Lebanon
Released: November 17, 1939
Type: Movie
At Marks Priory, Lady Lebanon is eager for her son, Lord William Lebanon, to marry Isla Crane, his cousin. But Isla is reluctant to do so, and is also frightened by the two footmen of the household who she suspects of locking her in her room at night. Following a village dance, the household's chauffeur is found strangled with an Indian scarf.
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False Faces
Title: False Faces
Character: Mrs. Finn
Released: October 12, 1932
Type: Movie
The philandering Dr. Silas Brenton is fired from his position at a large hospital and given 24 hours to vacate the state. He sets himself up in Chicago as a "prestigious" plastic surgeon to the stars. However, Brenton's silver tongue can't cover up his dubious methods, and an investigation into his practice is launched by the examining board of plastic surgeons. A delirious film à clef based on the loathsome career of Henry J. Schireson, the self-styled “King of Quacks”.
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Westward Passage
Title: Westward Passage
Character: Mrs. von Stael (uncredited)
Released: May 27, 1932
Type: Movie
A struggling writer divorces his wife to pursue his career without interference, but they meet in Europe years later after she has remarried.
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Secret Service
Title: Secret Service
Character: Mrs. Varney
Released: November 14, 1931
Type: Movie
In 1864 a Secret Service agent for the Union army goes undercover in Richmond and pretends to be a Confederate captain.
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Their Mad Moment
Title: Their Mad Moment
Character: Grand Mere
Released: July 12, 1931
Type: Movie
Dorothy Mackaill stars in this old-fashioned melodrama set in the Basque country of Spain. She is Emily Stanley, betrothed to foppish Englishman Sir Harry Congers, but in love with Basque peasant Esteban Cristera. Deciding on a final fling before wedlock, Emily goes to Esteban's village in the mountains, but is wounded in a car accident. Recuperating, she learns about the hardships endured by Basque women from Esteban's grandmother and former girlfriend, Stancia, and decides to return to Sir Harry in Biarritz.
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A Woman of Experience
Title: A Woman of Experience
Character: Countess Runyi
Released: July 8, 1931
Type: Movie
It is 1915 in Vienna and the Great War has caused many casualties. Elsa, a beautiful prostitute, wants to help the war effort, but is rejected as a nurse, but a government official thinks that she will make an excellent spy.
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Transgression
Title: Transgression
Character: Honora 'Nora' Maury
Released: June 27, 1931
Type: Movie
When British mining engineer Robert Maury is sent to India on an extended business trip, his wife Elsie finds romance with a Spanish playboy.
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The Good Bad Girl
Title: The Good Bad Girl
Character: Mrs. Henderson
Released: May 20, 1931
Type: Movie
A woman's former association with a gangster threatens to destroy her marriage to an upstanding young man.
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Resurrection
Title: Resurrection
Character: Princess Marya
Released: January 27, 1931
Type: Movie
Katusha, a country girl, is seduced and abandoned by Prince Nekludov. Nekludov finds himself, years later, on a jury trying the same Katusha for a crime he now realizes his actions drove her to. He follows her to imprisonment in Siberia, intent on redeeming her and himself as well.
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Cimarron
Title: Cimarron
Character: Felice Venable
Released: January 26, 1931
Type: Movie
When the government opens up the Oklahoma territory for settlement, restless Yancey Cravat claims a plot of the free land for himself and moves his family there from Wichita. A newspaperman, lawyer, and just about everything else, Cravat soon becomes a leading citizen of the boom town of Osage. Once the town is established, however, he begins to feel confined once again, and heads for the Cherokee Strip, leaving his family behind. During this and other absences, his wife Sabra must learn to take care of herself and soon becomes prominent in her own right.
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The Royal Bed
Title: The Royal Bed
Character: Martha, the Queen
Released: January 15, 1931
Type: Movie
The hapless king of a small European nation must put up with a domineering queen, a daughter who wants to elope with her boyfriend, a peasant revolt and a scheming general.
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The Eyes of the World
Title: The Eyes of the World
Character: Myra Willard
Released: August 30, 1930
Type: Movie
The Eyes of the World is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film directed by Henry King and written by Brewster Morse and Clarke Silvernail. The film stars Eulalie Jensen, Florence Roberts, Una Merkel, and Nance O'Neil.
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Call of the Flesh
Title: Call of the Flesh
Character: Mother Superior
Released: August 16, 1930
Type: Movie
A student nun falls in love with a Mexican singer starring in a cafe next door to her convent.
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The Florodora Girl
Title: The Florodora Girl
Character: Mrs. Vibart
Released: May 31, 1930
Type: Movie
A chorus girl gets bad advice from her fellow chorines in handling a rich suitor who assumes she is a gold digger.
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The Lady of Scandal
Title: The Lady of Scandal
Character: Lady Trench
Released: May 24, 1930
Type: Movie
A famous British actress gets involved with two members of a reserved British noble family, whose plan to get rid of her backfires.
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Ladies of Leisure
Title: Ladies of Leisure
Character: Mrs. Strong
Released: April 5, 1930
Type: Movie
Kay Arnold is a gold digger who wanders from party to party with the intention of catching a rich suitor. Jerry Strong is a young man from a wealthy family who strives to succeed as an artist. What begins as a relationship of mutual convenience soon turns into something else.
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The Rogue Song
Title: The Rogue Song
Character: Princess Alexandra
Released: January 17, 1930
Type: Movie
In czarist Russia, a princess falls for a dashing bandit leader, but their romance proves a stormy one.
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His Glorious Night
Title: His Glorious Night
Character: Eugenie
Released: September 28, 1929
Type: Movie
Being engaged against her will with a wealthy man, Princess Orsolini (Catherine Dale Owen) is in love with Captain Kovacs (John Gilbert), a cavalry officer she is secretly meeting. Her mother Eugenie (Nance O'Neil), who has found out about the affair forces her to dump Kovacs and take part in the arranged marriage. Though not believing her own words, Orsolini reluctantly tells Kovacs she cannot ever fall in love with a man with his social position. Feeling deeply hurt, Kovacs decides to take revenge by indulging in blackmail, spreading a rumor that he is an imposter and a swindler.
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The Fall of the Romanoffs
Title: The Fall of the Romanoffs
Character: Czarina Alexandra
Released: January 1, 1918
Type: Movie
The overthrow of Czar Nicholas II in Russia was such big news that the then-fledgling art of cinema couldn't help but jump on it immediately and create a couple of dramatizations.
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Hedda Gabler
Title: Hedda Gabler
Released: May 7, 1917
Type: Movie
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Mrs. Balfame
Title: Mrs. Balfame
Character: Mrs. Balfame
Released: April 9, 1917
Type: Movie
Mrs. Balfame is a 1917 Mystery Drama
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The Seventh Sin
Title: The Seventh Sin
Released: March 17, 1917
Type: Movie
One of seven films based on the Seven Deadly Sins.
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Seven Deadly Sins: Greed
Title: Seven Deadly Sins: Greed
Released: February 12, 1917
Type: Movie
Eve Leslie and Adam Moore become interested in the stock market. Eve decides to try to add to her fortunes by plunging. Tempted by the sin of greed, Eve becomes reckless. At first she wins, then she begins to lose, and desperately tries to recover her losses.
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The Iron Woman
Title: The Iron Woman
Released: October 2, 1916
Type: Movie
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Kreutzer Sonata
Title: Kreutzer Sonata
Character: Miriam Friedlander
Released: March 1, 1915
Type: Movie
Based -- loosely -- on Leo Tolstoy, this film starred feted stage star Nance O'Neil but is rather better remembered as Theda Bara's follow-up to the sensational A Fool There Was (1914).
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The Count of Monte Cristo
Title: The Count of Monte Cristo
Character: Mercedes
Released: November 1, 1913
Type: Movie
A French sailor, imprisoned for years on false charges of conpiring against the king, escapes and exacts revenge on his accusers.