Jennie McNulty or Jenny McNulty (1866"Jennie McNulty", 1891 England Census, Ancestry.com (pay to view) – 1927"Jennie M Paulet", England & Wales, Death Index, 1916–2007, Ancestry.com (pay to view)) 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.
Career
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.""Great Queen Street Theatre", Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, Vol. 60, p. 178 (1903), George S. Maddick Her West End roles included Lady Pattie in Adonis (1886),Brereton, p. 127 Fernand in Monte Cristo Jr. (1886), Lady Betty in the comic opera Dorothy (1886),Brereton, p. 130 a small role in the Victorian burlesque Frankenstein, or The Vampire's Victim (1887),Adams, p. 547 Siebel in another burlesque, Faust up to date (1888–1889),The Illustrated Naval and Military Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1889), pp. 157, 312, accessed 14 August 2015 Letty Lansdell in First Mate (1888–1889),Scott, p. 104 Una Foxwood in The Gold Mine; or, the Miller of Grenoble (1890),Scott, p. 129Adams, p. 591 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".Capes and Eglington, p. 139; and The Freemason, Vol. XXIV, 9 August 1890, p. 80, accessed 14 August 2015; She played Mrs. Huntley in Sweet Nancy (1890)Capes and Eglington, p. 258; and The Times, 18 October 1890, p. 8 and Corisande in Ivan Caryll's version of Ma mie Rosette (1892).Artist and Journal of Home Culture, Vol. 13, Wm. Reeves (1892), p. 379"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
In 1893–1894, she played the phony "Comtesse de la Blague" in Morocco Bound,"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 in which role she was called "bright and engaging".Artist and Journal of Home Culture, Vol. 14 (1893), p. 381, Wm. Reeves, accessed 31 August 2015 In 1894 she was Flo Honeydew in The Lady SlaveyWearing, J. P., The London Stage 1890–1899: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, Rowman & Littlefield (2014), Google Books, p. 228 and in the same year married William Victor Paulet.The Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality, Vol. 24, Ingram brothers (1899), p. 216 In 1895, she was elected as head of the Choristers' Association in London.Davis, p. 66 In 1898, she appeared in A Greek Slave. and the following year she received good notices as Martha in My "Soldier" Boy.Truth: A Weekly Journal, Vol. 45 (1899), p. 85; and "Criterion Theatre", The Times, 4 January 1899, p. 4"A Laugh at the 'Cri'", Punch, Vol. 116 (1899), p. 69, F. C. Burnand et al. (eds.) In 1903, she played Lady Flareup in the farce Dumb-bell Daisy.Wearing, J.P., The London Stage 1900–1909 (2nd ed. Rev.), Plymouth, U.K.: Rowman & Littlefield (2013), pp. 156–157 After this, she continued to perform in London and on tour with other George Edwardes companies."Prince's Theatre", The Manchester Guardian, 26 April 1905, classified advertisements, p. 1
She died in London in 1927, aged 60.
References
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)
External links Footlight Notes (reprinted from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, New York, 26 December 1894, p. 2c)