Queenie Vassar

Queenie Vassar (born Cecilia McMahon, 28 October 1870 – 11 September 1960) was a Scottish-born actress on stage and in films.

Queenie Vassar, from a 1900 publication.
Queenie Vassar, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes MET DP859761

Early life

Queenie Vassar was born Cecilia McMahon in Glasgow. She was performing from childhood, and moved to the United States at age 13 as the protegee of impresario Tony Pastor.[1]

Career

Vassar appeared on the Broadway stage in shows including The Passing Show (1894), Sister Mary (1900),[2] Belle of Bridgeport (1900), The Ladies Paradise (1901), The Toreador (1902), The Slim Princess (1911), The Lady of the Slipper (1912-1913), The Girl from Utah (1914-1915). Vassar's photo was used on cigarette cards and candy boxes, and in advertisements. She claimed to have been the first actress to ride a bicycle on the Broadway stage.[3]

Vassar emerged from retirement in 1939[4] to play older women in three films of the 1940s: Primrose Path (1940), Lady in a Jam (1942), None but the Lonely Heart (1944). Her work as Ginger Rogers's grandmother in Primrose Path is considered by one film scholar "one of the most stunningly naturalistic performances by any character actress on record... a wicked joy to behold."[5]

Personal life

Queenie Vassar married three times.[5] She married first to comedian Harry A. Kernell in 1887, when she was seventeen; she was widowed in 1893, with two young sons, Harry and William.[6] She married again in 1893, to William Lynch; they had a daughter and divorced in 1900.[7] Her third and longest marriage[8] was to Joseph Cawthorn, a fellow actor, beginning in 1902.[9] She was widowed in 1949, and died in 1960, aged 89 years. Her gravesite is in the Hollywood Forever cemetery.[1][10]

References
  1. "Former Stage Star, Queenie Vassar, 89, Dies" Los Angeles Times (September 13, 1960): B3. via Newspapers.com
  2. "Stage Folk" The International (June 1900): 520.
  3. Frederick C. Othman, "Miss Vassar's Legs were First Used in Ads" Milwaukee Journal (December 6, 1939): 21.
  4. "Toast of 1890s is Acting Again" Detroit Free Press (November 28, 1939): 7. via Newspapers.com
  5. Axel Nissen, Mothers, Mammies and Old Maids: Twenty-Five Character Actresses of Golden Age Hollywood (McFarland 2012): 185-186. ISBN 9780786490455
  6. "Harry Kernell is Dead" Boston Daily Globe (March 14, 1893): 7. via ProQuest. Kernell had previously been married to dancer Kitty O'Neil (dancer).
  7. "Queenie Vassar Gets a Divorce" New York Times (November 10, 1900): 7. via ProQuest
  8. "Their Married Bliss! Joseph Cawthorn and his wife, Queenie Vassar, celebrate their thirty-first wedding anniversary" Los Angeles Times (July 19, 1931): I3. via ProQuest
  9. "Queenie Vassar to Wed Cawthorn" New York Times (June 1, 1902).
  10. "Queenie Vassar, 89, Dies: Musical Comedy Star of the Nineties, Seen in Films" New York Times (September 13, 1960): 37. via ProQuest
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