Er, Lizzie Borden’s meeting with the actor Nance O’Neil was nothing like Netflix’s Monster

In the second episode of Netflix’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, Lizzie and Bridget encounter an actress called Nance O’Neil. She was a real person – and actually fairly famous in the 1900s beyond her connection to Lizzie Borden. However, the real Lizzie Borden and Nance O’Neil definitely didn’t meet each other in the way they did in Monster.

Wait, who actually was Nance O’Neil?

So, the real Nance O’Neil was born in 1874. That makes her 14 years younger than Lizzie Borden, and just 17 when Andrew and Abby Borden were killed.

In the Netflix show, Lizzie first sees Nance when she stars as the fairy queen Titania in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. (The actual part she watches in Monster is act two scene one, if anybody cares.)

Monster’s interpretation of Nance O’Neil
(Image via Netflix)

It’s rather unlikely Lizzie met Nance through this play in 1892. There’s no record of Nance appearing in a version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Plus, her first gig in a profession production was as an unnamed nun in a play called Sarah, well over a year after Monster is set.

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Lizzie actually met Nance years later

The women actually met in 1904 – 14 years after Lizzie’s parents were killed. According to the the book Parallel Lives: A Social History of Lizzie A. Borden and Her Fall River, it’s often said Lizzie saw her as Lady Macbeth. However, it’s much likelier that Lizzie attended a tour of Hermann Sudermann’s play Magda in Boston. Nance starred as the unconventional heroine Magda. The character clashes with her over-controlling father, who dies during one of their arguments. Yes, you read that correctly.

This dinner party was an embellishment for Monster
(Image via Netflix)

According to Parallel Lives, Lizzie was so taken with Nance’s performance that she sent her a bouquet of flowers and a note. Nance invited her backstage to meet her. That summer, Nance invited Lizzie to a week-long party at her house in Tyngsboro. The pair has a close friendship until 1906, when they appear to have drifted apart.

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Featured image credit: Netflix