Sally O'Neil (born Virginia Louise Concepta Noonan; October 23, 1908 – June 18, 1968) was an American film actress of the 1920s. She appeared in more than 40 films, often with her name above the title.[1]
Early years
O'Neil was one of eleven children born to Judge Thomas Francis Patrick Noonan and his wife, Hannah Kelly, a Metropolitan Opera singer, in Bayonne, New Jersey.[1] One of her sisters was actress Suzanne Dobson Noonan, an actress known professionally as Molly O'Day.[2] Another sister, Isabelle, also acted in films.[3]
Films
Sally O'Neil in Yes, Yes, Nanette (1925), her first film appearance.
Convent-educated, she started her career in vaudeville, billed as Chotsie Noonan and known for her petite but curvaceous frame and curly brown hair. She broke into films in 1925 at the Hal Roach studio, playing flappers or hoydenish tomboys in short-subject comedies. During her tenure with Roach she was billed as Sue O'Neil or Sue "Bugs" O'Neil.
Her fame began to subside after silent pictures gave way to sound. Although her broad "Joisey" accent in early talkies like Jazz Heaven was unsuitable for most ingenue roles, Warner Bros. signed her to play streetwise girls in its feature films of 1929-30. After Warners released her in 1930, O'Neil freelanced at various studios. The Brat, a 1931 pre-Code film directed by John Ford, was revived at New York City's Museum of Modern Art in November 2016. A showcase for O'Neil, the movie involves a brash chorus girl's effect upon a snobbish family when their son brings her home in order to research a novel.
Her last American film was released in 1935; she traveled to England in 1937 for one final film, Kathleen Mavourneen, of interest today for a guest appearance by comedian Arthur Lucan as Old Mother Riley.
Stage
Sally O'Neil appeared on Broadway in When We Are Married (1940).[5] She continued on stage and toured with the USO until the 1950s.
Personal life
In October 1953, O'Neil married businessman S.S. Battles. They divorced in 1957, but they soon remarried.[1]: 13
