Suzanne Bennett

Suzanne Bennett (stage name, was born Susannah Catherine Evans) was an Australian-born actress on Broadway in the United States. After her August 30, 1929 marriage to the celebrated explorer Sir George Hubert Wilkins, she was known as Lady Hubert Wilkins. She died in New York in December 1974,^[1] and her ashes were scattered at the North Pole from USS Bluefish on 4 May 1975, as were her husband's from USS Skate in 1959.

Suzanne was born to John Evans (a miner) and Alice Louisa Whitlow in Walhalla (Victoria, Australia) in 1893. She had three siblings (a sister, Mabel, and two brothers John and Arthur).^[2]

Suzanne Evans took the name Bennett from her 1915 marriage to 20-year-old soldier, Pvte Oscar Bennett (AIF service number 381). At the time she was living in St. Kilda. Pvte. Bennett survived the war, returning to Australia in 1919 but clearly the marriage did not last and by 1923, Suzanne was in New York looking for work on Broadway. Prior to her departure she had stage experience, first in the chorus of the Rigo Grand Opera Company, and later with Hugh D. McIntosh's productions.

Ms. Bennett and her illustrious explorer husband were sufficiently famous to warrant a marriage announcement in the September 9, 1929 issue of Time Magazine. There it was reported that the famous Australian couple had wed in Cleveland, Ohio. That notice also credits Ms. Bennett with having appeared on stage in "Vanities" and "The Cyclone Lover".

The couple met on June 20, 1928, in New York City during a reception honoring Wilkins after his famed flight over the Arctic Sea. The couple had no children during their twenty nine years of marriage.

Performances

Guns [Original, Play]
Performer: Suzanne Bennett [Cora Chase] -Dates: Aug 6, 1928 - Sep 1928

The Cyclone Lover [Original, Play, Comedy]
Performer: Suzanne Bennett [Katherine] -Dates: Jun 5, 1928 - Jul 1928

What Do We Know? [Original, Play]
Performer: Suzanne Bennett [Ernestine Fox] -Dates: Dec 23, 1927 - Jan 1928

Merry-Go-Round [Original, Musical, Comedy, Revue]
Performer: Suzanne Bennett -Dates: May 31, 1927 - Sep 24, 1927

Nic Nax of 1926 [Original, Musical, Revue]
Performer: Suzanne Bennett -Dates: Aug 2, 1926 - Aug 13, 1926

Port O' London [Original, Play]
Performer: Suzanne Bennett [May] Feb 9, 1926 - Mar 1926

Earl Carroll's Vanities [1925] [Original, Musical, Revue]
Performer: Suzanne Bennett [Ensemble] -Dates: Jul 6, 1925 - Dec 27, 1925

The Rat [Original, Play]
Performer: Suzanne Bennett [Mimi] -Dates: Feb 10, 1925 - May 1925

Innocent Eyes [Original, Musical, Revue]
Performer: Suzanne Bennett -Dates: May 20, 1924 - Aug 30, 1924

References

External links

• Suzanne Bennett at the Internet Broadway Database
  
• http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,737836,00.html?iid=digg_share
• http://library.osu.edu/sites/archives/polar/wilkins/wilkins.php
• "THE Traralgon Record.". Traralgon Record (Traralgon, Vic. : 1886 - 1932) . Traralgon, Vic.: National Library of Australia. 9 December 1924. p. 2 Edition: MORNING. Retrieved 30 August 2015.