Here's another fascinating story from former editor Charles E. Bunnell (Charlie to his friends) recently compiled Bonnells & Bunnells of Note (And a few Burnells & Burrells for Good Measure). The complete work is available on Internet Archive at this link: Charlie Bunnell's Bonnells & Bunnells of Note
Steve Bonnell referred Charles to an article about Bonnie Bonnell who appeared in some of the Three Stooges movies. CharlieI contacted the author, Bill Cappello, who agreed to publication of his article in the newsletter. It also serves as an interesting study in research methods.
“The Search . . . for Bonnie Bonnell, by Bill Cappello
By now, I suppose all Three Stooges fans have seen the MGM shorts they made with Ted Healy. Also appearing in these shorts is a young lady referred to in the opening credits as “Bonny.” I became interested in knowing more about “Bonny.” What was her real name? Was she still living? If alive, and willing and able to talk, she would be valuable from an historical point - she would know first hand how Healy really got along with Howard, Fine and Howard; how the routines were developed for the screen; and most importantly, what sequences weree filmed for the various shorts, and then cut from final release. This article is about my search for “Bonny.”
My first place to check for any information on “Bonny” was in Ted Healy’s clipping files at New York Public Library’s Theatre Collection. In the multitude of clippings was one article, from the New York Daily News, dated December 26, 1935. The headline reads: “Ted Healy in Firebug Role Lands in Jail.” The article described how Healy, in a mischievous mood, forced his way int the apartment of “former showgirl Marion Bonnell” and set fire, on the kitchen stove, to bundles of her clothing and pieces of furniture. At one point in the article, she was referred to as “Marion W. Bonnell, age 26,” and Healy called her Bonnie.
Now knowing what apparently was her real name, I checked the clipping files for Marion Bonnell, and found one, with just two newspaper clippings: one was a full -length photo of her, mentioning she was “one of the beauties” in a Broadway musical revue The Ramblers, dated February 21, 1927. The other was a portrait photo, obviously taken many years earlier, accompanying a couple of lines about the Ted Healy firebug episode, dated December 1935. Unfortunately, there were no clues as to her birthplace, or any marriages.
Before continuing library research, I decided to call any living people who may have known her personally, in hopes that they’d be able to give me some leads. I talked to Paul “Mousie” Garner, who worked with her in Bill Rose’s Crazy Quilt, a 1931 Broadway musical revue. Garner said that in that show, Healy’s stooges were Dick Hakins, Jack Wolfe, and himself. He remembered her as being a very good dancer, but knew nothing about what became of her. Next call was to Muriel Evans, who played Healy’s wife in the MGM short The Big Idea. Muriel remembered working very briefly on the set, but did not know Bonnie at all. Final call was to Matt Brooks, who was a co-writer with Healy on the shorts. He knew nothing. So it was back to the library.
In the Personal Name Index to the New York Times, I found one reference to Marion Bonnell. The article referred to was a mention of a marriage to a T.F. McGoey of Long Island, who met her while she was appearing in a show named Tell Me More in 1925. The marriage took place in New York City in May of 1926. I was able to get a copy of the marriage application, which gave me some personal information: her father’s name was John, mother’s maiden name Marion Evans, and she was born in Atlanta, Georgia. The man she married, Thomas E. McGoey, was a salesman. I was able to locate some relatives of his, who told me he was long dead, but that his marriage to Marion Bonnell didn’t last more than a few years, and, of course, they had no idea of what happened to her.
With the information that she was from Atlanta, I was able to locate a few of her relatives there. The most helpful was a first cousin, Lloyd Dixon (his mother and Bonnie’s father were brother and sister). He told me he never met her, but knew of her work on the stage and in movies with Healy. He was under the impression that Healy and Bonnie were married, but I’ve never found any documentation of this. Mr Dixon referred me to his daughter, Mrs. Jean Murray, who was keeper of the family history. Mrs. Murray gave me information from the family records that led me to another of Bonnie’s relatives, a first cousin on her mother’s side. Bonnie was born on August 1, 1905, in Thomasville, Georgia, the only child of John Wright Bonnell and Marion Evans Bonnell. Her full birth name was Marion Wright Bonnell. With the information that her parents were married in Thomasville, the birthplace of her mother, I was able to locate another very helpful relative. Jim Evans whose father and Marion’s mother were brother and sister, told me that Bonnie, whom he called “little Marion,” had died in Santa Monica, California on March 14, 1964, age 58. He told me he believed she was an alcoholic, and that when he visited his Aunt Marion in the 1950s (Bonnie’s mother lived with her since the early 1940s), he was not allowed to see Bonnie because she wasn’t in any condition to have visitors. He did tell me that her married name was Hayes, but he never met her husband.
I applied for and received a copy of Bonnie’s death certificate. Her full hame is listed as Marion Bonnell Hayes; date of birth August 1, 1913, which is erroneous by eight years; married to Jack L. Hayes, an auto parts salesman, her last occupation, housewife, for 28 years. She died at Santa Monica Hospital, and an autopsy was performed to find the cause of death, which is listed a “fatty metamorphosis of the liver,” a condition which is caused by consumption of large amounts of alcohol over a long period of time; a contributing factor to her death was “cerebral edema” which is fluids collecting around the brain, which may be caused by a blow to the head. Bonnie was cremated and her ashes (known as cremains in the funeral business) are interred in their own niche at the Woodlawn Cemetery Mausoleum in Santa Monica.
The final person I talked to was Marc Bentley, the man who owns the house in West Los Angeles where Bonnie and her husband last lived. Mr. Bentley told me that his house had been in his family for many years, and at the time Bonnie lived there, his brother Fred owned it. He said Fred rented out rooms to friends who were not in good financial circumstances. He recalled that Bonnie (he referred to her as Bonnie, a name that stayed with her since her association with Hely) was an alcoholic and things were very bad for her at the end. After her death, her husband Jack moved out of the house and was never seen again.
So that’s the story of whatever happened to Bonnie Bonnell Ted Healy’s first and only lady stooge on screen. Perhaps it was their mutual penchant to drinking that brought them together, but unfortunately, it was also the cause of their individual demise.”
[Newsletter Editor's Note: Marion Wright Bonnell is in Claude’s database and this article provides considerable data for it. While I was searching for additional information on Bonnie, I found a Bonnie Bonnell who was a frequent guest of Ernest Hemingway during the 1920s. I don’t believe it is the same Bonnie though as this one lived, at least for some time, in Toronto.]
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