Jennie McNulty

Jennie McNulty or Jenny McNulty (1866[1] – 1927[2]) was an American-born British actress. Beginning her career as a Gaiety Girl, she went on to act in featured roles on the London stage in musical theatre around the close of the 19th century, including comic operas and operettas, Victorian burlesques, farces and Edwardian musical comedies.

This article is about the actress. For the mathematician, see Jenny McNulty.

Jennie McNulty, 1890
Woman standing holding a fan
Jennie McNulty, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-6) issued by Duke Sons & Co.

Career
McNulty on a magazine cover, 1887

McNulty was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and began her career as a Gaiety Girl. She was later remembered as "among the prettiest and most popular of the girls at the Gaiety."[3] Her West End roles included Lady Pattie in Adonis (1886),[4] Fernand in Monte Cristo Jr. (1886), Lady Betty in the comic opera Dorothy (1886),[5] a small role in the Victorian burlesque Frankenstein, or The Vampire's Victim (1887),[6] Siebel in another burlesque, Faust up to date (1888–1889),[7] Letty Lansdell in First Mate (1888–1889),[7][8] Una Foxwood in The Gold Mine; or, the Miller of Grenoble (1890),[9][10] and Polly in The Bookmaker by J. W. Pigott (1890). Cecil Howard wrote in The Theatre that her performance as Polly was "as good ... as one could wish ... her bravado, her insolent vulgarity, were only equalled by the little exquisite touch of pathos towards the close".[11] She played Mrs. Huntley in Sweet Nancy (1890)[12] and Corisande in Ivan Caryll's version of Ma mie Rosette (1892).[13][14]

McNulty in Ma Mie Rosette

In 1893–1894, she played the phony "Comtesse de la Blague" in Morocco Bound,[15] in which role she was called "bright and engaging".[16] In 1894 she was Flo Honeydew in The Lady Slavey[17] and in the same year married William Victor Paulet.[18] In 1895, she was elected as head of the Choristers' Association in London.[19] In 1898, she appeared in A Greek Slave.[18] and the following year she received good notices as Martha in My "Soldier" Boy.[20][21] In 1903, she played Lady Flareup in the farce Dumb-bell Daisy.[22] After this, she continued to perform in London and on tour with other George Edwardes companies.[23]

She died in London in 1927, aged 60.

References
  1. "Jennie McNulty", 1891 England Census, Ancestry.com (pay to view)
  2. "Jennie M Paulet", England & Wales, Death Index, 1916–2007, Ancestry.com (pay to view)
  3. "Great Queen Street Theatre", Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, Vol. 60, p. 178 (1903), George S. Maddick
  4. Brereton, p. 127
  5. Brereton, p. 130
  6. Adams, p. 547
  7. The Illustrated Naval and Military Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1889), pp. 157, 312, accessed 14 August 2015
  8. Scott, p. 104
  9. Scott, p. 129
  10. Adams, p. 591
  11. Capes and Eglington, p. 139; and The Freemason, Vol. XXIV, 9 August 1890, p. 80, accessed 14 August 2015;
  12. Capes and Eglington, p. 258; and The Times, 18 October 1890, p. 8
  13. Artist and Journal of Home Culture, Vol. 13, Wm. Reeves (1892), p. 379
  14. "The Theatres", The Times, 27 December 1892, p. 6; and "Ma Mie Rosette, at the Globe Theatre", Illustrated London News, 26 November 1892, p. 669
  15. "Theatres", The Observer, 14 May 1893, p. 4; The Academy – a weekly review of literature, science and art, January–June 1894, Vol. XLV, No. 1131, 6 January 1894, p. 2, accessed 14 August 2015; and The Saint Paul Daily Globe, 4 May 1896, p. 9c
  16. Artist and Journal of Home Culture, Vol. 14 (1893), p. 381, Wm. Reeves, accessed 31 August 2015
  17. Wearing, J. P., The London Stage 1890–1899: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, Rowman & Littlefield (2014), Google Books, p. 228
  18. The Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality, Vol. 24, Ingram brothers (1899), p. 216
  19. Davis, p. 66
  20. Truth: A Weekly Journal, Vol. 45 (1899), p. 85; and "Criterion Theatre", The Times, 4 January 1899, p. 4
  21. "A Laugh at the 'Cri'", Punch, Vol. 116 (1899), p. 69, F. C. Burnand et al. (eds.)
  22. Wearing, J.P., The London Stage 1900–1909 (2nd ed. Rev.), Plymouth, U.K.: Rowman & Littlefield (2013), pp. 156–157 ISBN 9780810892941
  23. "Prince's Theatre", The Manchester Guardian, 26 April 1905, classified advertisements, p. 1

Sources
  • Adams, William Davenport. A Dictionary of the Drama: A guide to the plays, playwrights, players, and playhouses, Ghatto & windus (1904)
  • Brereton, Austin. Dramatic Notes - an illustrated year book of the stage, Vol. 8, London: Carson and Comerford (1887)
  • Capes, Bernard and Charles Eglington (eds.) The Theater: A Monthly Review and Magazine, Wyman & Sons (1890)
  • Scott, Clement (ed.) The Theater: A Monthly Review and Magazine, Vol. XIII, London: Strand Publishing (1889–1890)
  • Davis, Tracy C. Actresses as Working Women: Their Social Identity in Victorian Culture, Routledge (2002) ISBN 1134934475
  • Footlight Notes (reprinted from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, New York, 26 December 1894, p. 2c)
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