Suzanne Bennett

Suzanne Bennett
Born
Suzanne Evans

Walhalla, Victoria, Australia
DiedDecember 1974
Resting placeNorth Pole
Other namesLady Hubert Wilkins
OccupationStage actress
SpouseHubert Wilkins
Bennett in 1928
Sir Hubert Wilkins and his wife Suzanne Bennett (1932)

Suzanne Bennett (1893–1974) (also known as Lady Hubert Wilkins) was an Australian-born actress who achieved success on Broadway in the United States in the 1920s. She was born Susannah Catherine Evans in the goldfields town of Walhalla, Victoria to John Evans (a miner) and Alice Louisa Whitlow. She had four siblings (sisters Mabel and Edith; and brothers John and Arthur).[1]

She took the name Bennett from her 1915 marriage to 20-year-old soldier, Private Oscar Bennett. At the time of their marriage, she was living in St. Kilda, Victoria. Oscar Bennett survived the war, returning to Australia in 1919. At this time, Suzanne Bennett had worked on stage in Australia, first in the chorus of the Rigo Grand Opera Company, and later with Hugh D. McIntosh's productions.[2][3] However, her marriage to Bennett was an unhappy one and a divorce was finally granted in early 1922.[4] By 1923, Suzanne was in New York looking for work. Within a year, she was performing in Broadway productions.[5][6]

Bennett met the celebrated explorer Sir George Hubert Wilkins on 20 June 1928 in New York City during a reception honoring Wilkins after his famed flight over the Arctic Sea. The couple were sufficiently famous to warrant a marriage announcement in the 9 September 1929 issue of Time magazine. There it was reported that the couple had wed in Cleveland, Ohio. That notice also credits Bennett with having appeared on stage in Vanities and The Cyclone Lover.

After her marriage to Wilkins she was known as Lady Hubert Wilkins, living with Sir Hubert in New York City. In her later years, she and Sir Hubert spent their summers living on a 100-acre (40 ha) rural converted farm in the Endless Mountains area of Rush Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, a property she and Sir Hubert purchased in the 1950s. Lady Wilkins was a gifted portrait artist, and did many paintings during her lifetime. She suffered a stroke in 1972, which left her blind. She was cared for by Winston Ross – Sir Hubert's former personal secretary – and his wife Marley Ross, relocating to Southern California. She died in Orange County, California in December 1974,[7] and her ashes were scattered at the North Pole from the US Navy submarine USS Bluefish on 4 May 1975, as were her husband's from USS Skate in 1959.

The couple had no children during their twenty-nine years of marriage.

  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 February 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "HENLEY REGATTA" Table Talk (Melbourne), Thu 19 Oct 1922 Page 28 Accessed 9 January 2017
  3. ^ "THEATRICAL OFFERINGS OF THE MOMENT" Sunday Times (Sydney) Sun 7 May 1922 Page 18 Accessed 9 January 2017
  4. ^ "TYPISTE AND SOLDIER" The Ballarat Star (Vic.) Tue 21 Feb 1922, Page 3, Accessed 9 January 2017
  5. ^ "AN IDLE WOMAN'S DIARY" Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW) Fri 17 Nov 1922 Page 8 Accessed 9 January 2017.
  6. ^ "THE MAID OF THE MOUNTAINS" The Traralgon Record (Vic.) 9 December 1924, accessdate=30 August 2015
  7. ^ The Australian Women's Weekly, Wed 19 Mar 1975, Page '96b' "MARRIAGE RETAINED ITS ROMANCE" Accessed 9 January 2017