Bonnie Maginn
A young white woman, standing, wearing a light-colored pleated and lace-trimmed dress with an off-the-shoulder neckline, and a large hat; her hair is voluminous and falls longer than her shoulders.
Bonnie Maginn, from the Burr-McIntosh Photograph Collection, New-York Historical Society
BornFebruary 10, 1880
Chicago
Died1964
NationalityAmerican
Other namesBonnie Magin
Occupation(s)Actress, singer, model, dancer
Known forBroadway appearances, 1899-1906; was in the cast of the show during the Iroquois Theatre fire in 1903

Bonnie Maginn (February 10, 1880 – 1964), also known as Bonnie Magin, was an American stage actress, model, singer and dancer, and vaudeville performer.

Early life

Bonnie Magin was born in Chicago,[1] the daughter of John R. Magin and Margaret Anna Sullivan Magin.[2][3]

Career

Maginn was an artists' model, "said to be the most pictured young woman of her age in America" in 1901,[4] and a vaudeville performer, usually in soubrette roles,[5] in the Weber & Fields shows in New York. In 1901 she shared the bill with David Warfield, Fay Templeton, DeWolf Hopper and Lillian Russell in Fiddle-Dee-Dee at the Chicago Opera House.[6] She was a featured dancer[7] in Klaw and Erlanger's ill-fated production of Mr. Blue Beard,[8] when it opened at Chicago's Iroquois Theatre in 1903.[9][10] She and the rest of the cast survived the massive and fatal theatre fire during the show's run.[11][12]

In 1904, she appeared in Frank Daniels' The Office Boy; "she sings after the manner of pretty soubrettes," reported one reviewer, "whose cuteness covers a multitude of deficiencies."[13] In the 1904-1905 season, she was cast in Joe Weber's Higgledy-Piggledy and The College Widower.[14] and in 1906, she toured with Weber's company, performing with Marie Dressler and Flora Zabelle, among others.[15][16] She retired from the stage before 1910.

Maginn also owned a large cattle ranch in Montana, and was believed to be a multi-millionaire in 1905. In 1906, she was living in New York City, but was identified as the owner of an automobile seen speeding over the legal Sunday limit of 10 miles per hour in Tonawanda, New York.[17]

Personal life

Maginn was the companion of wealthy West Virginia landowner John T. Davis, whose father was politician Henry Gassaway Davis.[18][2] Magin sued Davis in 1924, for breach of promise, because after he divorced his wife, he did not marry her, and because he stopped supporting her in 1922, though she expected his support to continue.[19][20] She was also romantically linked with actor John Barrymore.[21] She died in 1964, at age 84, and is buried in Kew Gardens, New York.[22]

References

  1. ↑ "Bonnie Magin's Rapid Rise as a Stage Star". The Pittsburgh Press. 1906-10-07. p. 36. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 "Bonnie Maginn was with a Millionaire". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Vol. 155, no. 30. 1906-07-30. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  3. ↑ "John R. Maginn is Dead". San Francisco Examiner. 1910-06-16. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Prescott, Augusta (1901-10-13). "The Pretty Girl Models of Gotham". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Dashing Bonnie Maginn". The Sentinel. Vol. XXVII, no. 213. Carlisle, Penn. 1908-08-19. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Music and the Drama". Chicago Tribune. 1901-05-14. p. 16. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Clever Tricks in 'Blue Beard'". The Indianapolis Star. 1903-10-28. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Iroquois Theatre ... Chicago: Souvenir Programme. Press of Rand, McNally & Company. 1903-11-23. p. 9.
  9. ↑ Hatch, Anthony P. (2003-02-01). Tinder Box: The Iroquois Theatre Disaster 1903. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-0-89733-802-8.
  10. ↑ Everett, Marshall (1904). Chicago's Awful Theater Horror. Memorial Publishing Company.
  11. ↑ "Theatre Company Saved; Every Member Got Out; Some Costumes Were Saved, but the Scenery is All Gone". The Boston Globe. 1903-12-31. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Near 700 Die in a Fire Panic in Chicago Theater". Buffalo Evening News. Vol. XLVII, no. 68. 1903-12-31. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Miss Fisher the Hit in Daniels's New Piece". The St Louis Republic. Vol. 96, no. 263. 1904-03-21. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Our Portraits: Bonnie Maginn". The Burr-McIntosh Monthly. 8 (31): 253. October 1905.
  15. ↑ "Joe Weber's Company at the Broadway". The Brooklyn Citizen. 1906-10-23. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Actresses Missed their Train West". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1906-11-10. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Bubble Owners are Haled Into Police Court". The Buffalo Illustrated Times. 1906-05-06. p. 25. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "Bonnie Magin's Suit Against Rich Realtor Strikes Snag". Daily News. New York City. 1924-06-06. p. 12. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "Miss Bonnie Magin May Wed Rich Son of Henry G. Davis". The South Bend Tribune. 1906-08-01. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "John T. Davis to Fight Suit of Bonnie Magin". The Paducah Sun-Democrat. 1924-06-06. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ "Jack Barrymore and His Many Love Affairs". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Ky. 1920-08-29. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  22. ↑ "Actress Bonnie Magin's stardom didn't protect her from heartbreak". Iroquois Theater. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
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