Ona Munson (born Owena Elizabeth Wolcott; June 16, 1903 – February 11, 1955) 1906. However, biographer Axel Nissen notes in his book, Accustomed to Her Face: Thirty-Five Character Actresses of Golden Age Hollywood—citing census records—that Munson was born in fact born June 16, 1903. Munson's 1923 U.S. passport application lists her date of birth as June 16, 1903. Additionally, numerous sources erroneously state Munson was born in Portland, Oregon, though Nissen cites passenger list records from 1936 indicating she was in fact born in Albany, Oregon. Munson gave Albany as her birthplace on numerous other occasions, and it was published in local newspapers prior to her fame. the last of four children born to Sally ( Gore) and Owen Parrett Wolcott. She was named after her father. All three of her elder siblings had died in infancy, leaving Munson the first surviving and only child. Munson was of French-Canadian heritage; her paternal grandmother immigrated from Quebec in 1865.
When Munson was two years old,
Around 1917, at age fourteen, Munson relocated with her mother to New York City to pursue a stage acting career. In 1920, she was residing with her mother in a hotel on the Upper West Side, while training in Russian ballet for approximately one year. Her parents divorced in the 1920s, and her father later remarried.
Career
1919–1929: Stage beginnings and Broadway
Munson first appeared on Broadway in a minor role in George White's Scandals, The following year, she reprised the role in the original Broadway production, replacing Louise Groody. In 1927, she portrayed the title character in Manhattan Mary, followed by the female lead in 1928's original production of Hold Everything!, a musical in which she introduced the song "You're the Cream in My Coffee".
"The most difficult part of [the] role is acting between the lines. 'Belle' had so many things to say that could not be said, it was necessary to enact them. That took patience and hard work. I hope I have been able to do what they would not let me say."
1941–1955: Later years
In 1941, Munson portrayed a Chinese casino owner of dubious repute, Mother Gin Sling, in Josef von Sternberg's film The Shanghai Gesture (1941), in which she was "unrecognizable" due to the ‘yellowface’ make-up created for her character and others for the film. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote in his review of the film that Munson "looks like an alabaster statue and acts like a gunman's moll."
Her final feature film appearance was The Red House (1947), a psychological horror film in which she co-starred with Edward G. Robinson, Rory Calhoun, and Julie London. By 1949, Munson semi-retired from acting.
Personal life
On July 16, 1926, Munson married actor Edward Buzzell in New York City. The marriage lasted six years before their divorce in 1931. During production of The Shanghai Gesture (1941), it was publicized that Munson had planned to marry Federal Housing agent Stewart McDonald. Though the couple ultimately did not marry, they remained romantically involved through 1942. She later married painter Eugene Berman on January 20, 1950 in Beverly Hills.
Historians Billy Harbin and Kim Marra have termed Munson's marriages as "lavender marriages" intended to conceal her bisexuality and affairs with women.
Munson has been listed as a member of a group termed the "sewing circle", a clique of lesbians organized by actress Alla Nazimova, who was one of Munson's lovers.
Death
Plagued by ill health stemming from an unnamed surgical procedure, Munson died by suicide at the age of 51 with an overdose of barbiturates in her apartment in The Belnord on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Her body was discovered by her husband Berman on the afternoon of February 11, 1955. A note found next to her bed read: "This is the only way I know to be free again... Please don't follow me." An autopsy determined that Munson had ingested the barbiturates between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. on February 11.
She was interred at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. Munson posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located on the north side of the 6200 block of Hollywood Boulevard.
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| Twinkle, Twinkle
| Alice James
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! scope="row"| 1927
| Manhattan Mary
| Mary Brennan
| Apollo Theatre
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