‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’: Who Was Nance O’Neil?

Nance O’Neil was a stage and film actress who lived from 1874 to 1965. She began her career in San Francisco in 1893 and became known as the "American Bernhardt" for her international theatrical work throughout the 1890s and 1910s. O’Neil made the transition from stage to film in the early 1910s, appearing in several silent movies and talkies before her final role in the 1932 medical drama "False Faces."

O’Neil is believed to have formed a friendship with Lizzie Borden in 1904, several years after Borden was acquitted of murdering her father and stepmother. The show "Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story" portrays a closer relationship between the two women than what actually existed. Additionally, rumors about Borden's sexuality, which have led some to suggest a lesbian relationship, were mostly fueled by O’Neil's own rumored homosexuality and their friendship.

Lastly, the series claims that O’Neil met Borden to train her while she was on trial for murder, but this interaction never took place – O’Neil met Borden in 1904, more than a decade after the trial.