Did Nance O’Neil really use Lizzie Borden for her money? The truth behind Netflix’s Monster

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story changes quite a lot of Nance O’Neil’s story, including the timeline of her friendship with Lizzie. The same goes for the suggestion that the actress was taking advantage of Lizzie’s inheritance, although there is some truth to this part. 

In the fourth chapter of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s Netflix series, Lizzie (Ella Beatty) is introduced to Nance O’Neil (Jessica Barden) as she stars in a stage production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

Notably, their friendship starts before the 1892 murders of Andrew and Abby Borden. Thanks to Nance’s experience in acting, she ends up coaching Lizzie for her 1893 trial, helping her to convince the jury she’s innocent (which, of course, includes showing a little ankle). 

But in real life, the pair didn’t meet until 1904, long after the trial that led to Lizzie being acquitted. 

When Monster jumps forward in time, Lizzie is shown living a life of luxury at her Maplecroft mansion with her sister. She and Emma Borden (Billie Lourd) inherited around $300,000 after their father’s death – worth over $10 million today.

Nance pays Lizzie a visit, describing her travels around the world (all thanks to Lizzie being her patron). But even that’s not enough – she tells Lizzie of her dreams of leaving the stage and making it as a film star. And for that, she’s going to need “quite a bit more” money from Lizzie and her wealthy friends. 

Did Nance O’Neil really use Lizzie Borden for her money?

There’s no definitive evidence to prove that the real Nance deliberately befriended or used Lizzie for her inheritance, but this wasn’t entirely invented by Netflix. What is documented is that Lizzie was extremely generous towards Nance and her theatre friends, often throwing lavish parties for them at Maplecroft. 

Writer Tina Kate Rouse wrote in ‘Queen of Tragedy: The Career of Nance O’Neil’ that Lizzie even kept records of money she had loaned Nance. “In 1905, she wrote to Nance’s friend and fellow actress Ricca Allen complaining about outstanding loans, which are believed to have never been repaid,” Rouse said. 

In 1904, it’s believed Lizzie even helped Nance on a downpayment for a nearby farm property, although whether this is true is up for debate. Similarly, it’s also debated whether Lizzie was in love with Nance. 

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story actually depicts Lizzie in a romantic relationship with the Bordens’ live-in maid, Bridget “Maggie” Sullivan, despite there being no evidence that this was true. 

Rumours about Lizzie’s sexuality have circulated over the years, but some historians believe this is more due to the attitudes towards women at the time and the fact that Lizzie never married. 

Whatever the case, Rouse argued, “How deep the friendship became between Lizzie and Nance is not known, although it is clear O’Neil took advantage of Lizzie’s money.”

What happened to Nance O’Neill?

Lizzie died in June 1927 from pneumonia at age 66, but Nance went on to live for almost four decades after this, eventually dying in February 1965 at age 90. The actress died at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey, where she’d been living in her final years.

As for her friendship with Lizzie, Nance later said the pair simply “drifted apart” and stopped corresponding, describing their friendship as “ships that pass in the night.” She also said they never discussed the Borden murders. 

And Nance did achieve the film career Monster shows her wanting. She appeared in silent films from the 1910s before moving into talking pictures, including The Rogue Song, Ladies of Leisure and the Oscar-winning Cimarron. 

She continued acting on Broadway into the 1930s, and also married fellow actor Alfred Hickman in 1916, remaining with him until his death in 1931. Her ashes were later placed alongside Hickman’s in California. 

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Featured image credit: Netflix/Public Domain