Queenie Vassar (born Cecilia McMahon, 28 October 1870 – 11 September 1960) was a Scottish-born actress on stage and in films.
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."Former Stage Star, Queenie Vassar, 89, Dies" Los Angeles Times (September 13, 1960): B3. via Newspapers.com
Career
Vassar appeared on the Broadway stage in shows including The Passing Show (1894), Sister Mary (1900),"Stage Folk" The International (June 1900): 520. 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.Frederick C. Othman, "Miss Vassar's Legs were First Used in Ads" Milwaukee Journal (December 6, 1939): 21.
Vassar emerged from retirement in 1939"Toast of 1890s is Acting Again" Detroit Free Press (November 28, 1939): 7. via Newspapers.com 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."Axel Nissen, Mothers, Mammies and Old Maids: Twenty-Five Character Actresses of Golden Age Hollywood (McFarland 2012): 185–186.
Personal life Queenie Vassar married three times. 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."Harry Kernell is Dead" Boston Daily Globe (March 14, 1893): 7. Kernell had previously been married to dancer Kitty O'Neil (dancer). She married again in 1893, to William Lynch; they had a daughter and divorced in 1900."Queenie Vassar Gets a Divorce" New York Times (November 10, 1900): 7. Her third and longest marriage"Their Married Bliss! Joseph Cawthorn and his wife, Queenie Vassar, celebrate their thirty-first wedding anniversary" Los Angeles Times (July 19, 1931): I3. was to Joseph Cawthorn, a fellow actor, beginning in 1902."Queenie Vassar to Wed Cawthorn" New York Times (June 1, 1902). She was widowed in 1949, and died in 1960, aged 89 years. Her gravesite is in the Hollywood Forever cemetery."Queenie Vassar, 89, Dies: Musical Comedy Star of the Nineties, Seen in Films" New York Times (September 13, 1960): 37.
References
External links
Queenie Vassar's listing at IBDB. A cigarette card featuring Queenie Vassar, in the collection of the Wisconsin Historical Society. Another cigarette card featuring Queenie Vassar, in the George Arents Collection, New York Public Library Digital Collections.
Queen Vassar's gravesite, on Find a Grave.