The Forgotten Bombshell
Mary Nolan was an all-American Kentucky gal-turned-Ziegfeld dancer and silent film actress who could never quite break free of her scandalous past—not to mention her taste for barbiturates and a reputation for unhinged on-set temper tantrums. Along with a series of tempestuous, often violent love affairs with married men, brushes with John Law, and psychotic episodes, Nolan’s life was a rollercoaster ride that ended in tragedy.
Here are the most eye-popping facts about this smoldering Tinseltown firecracker who was her own worst enemy.
1. Her Early Years Were Bleak
Born Mary Robertson in 1902, she spent her earliest years in Louisville, Kentucky along with her four siblings and parents. Tragically, Nolan’s mother, Viola, passed on after a battle with cancer at the age of 41.
Soon after, her father, Alfcanis, sent Nolan away to live in an orphanage, where she stayed until the age of ten—but she had big city dreams in her eyes.
2. She Was Discovered In New York
After leaving an orphanage, Nolan moved to New York to stay with an older sister. In just a few short years in the city, she would begin her career as an artist’s model after being discovered by a magazine illustrator.
And it wasn’t long before she caught the attention of one of the biggest names in the business.
3. She First Tasted Fame As A Showgirl
Nolan’s time as a model certainly got chins wagging and eyes popping, and she was soon pursued by Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, founder of the eponymous famed Follies review. He wanted to make her a star—well, more like mold her into one on his terms.
4. She Changed Her Name
After being hired as a Ziegfeld Follies performer, Mary Nolan made her debut—but not as herself. She actually adopted a stage name: Imogen “Bubbles” Wilson. Under the “Bubbles” name, she continued her ascent to stardom, quickly becoming one of the most popular dancers on the stage—so popular, in fact, that she outshined some pretty big stars.
5. She Was Once As Popular As the President
When known as “Bubbles” Wilson, she was a really big deal. To the point where a newspaper columnist wrote: "Only two people in America would bring every reporter in New York to the docks to see them off. One is the President. The other is Imogene ‘Bubbles’ Wilson."
Unfortunately, when you’re that high up—there’s only one direction to go, and that’s down.
6. Men Were Drawn To Her
As Imogen “Bubbles” Wilson, Nolan’s blonde ambition and beauty quickly captured the public’s attention...not to mention that of popular vaudeville comedian and prolific boozer Frank Tinney. He was an established star at the height of his career, and she was an up-and-coming ingenue. It seemed like a match made in heaven—but it was really a horror story.
7. He Had A Dark Side
Mary Nolan knew that Tinney wasn’t perfect—in fact, she knew that he was far from it. When they started seeing each other, he was still married to former performer Edna Davenport, and they had a young son. But getting involved with a married man was just the start of Nolan’s problems.
8. She Learned The Truth About Him
Being a mistress turned out to be the tip of the iceberg. Tinney had a serious drinking problem, and it brought out a terrifying darkness in him. According to reports, Nolan got the worst of it. It was rumored that he got physical with her.
For a time, Nolan could hide the bruises—but soon enough, what happened behind bedroom doors would be exposed for the whole world to see.
9. Tinney Was Quick To Jealous Rage
A horrific series of events unfolded on May 24, 1924, at Nolan’s apartment, where Tinney flew into a jealous, alcohol-fueled rage after finding her with a male reporter. His abusive behavior was so traumatic for Nolan that she attempted suicide soon after.
10. She Pressed Charges Against Tinney
Days later, Mary Nolan reported Tinney’s assault to the authories, along with his attack on her maid. And there was no shortage of evidence this time—Nolan had only to show police the black-and-blue bruising that painted much of her head and body. Now it was up to the law to take care of Tinney.
11. He Was Arrested, Briefly
Tinney found himself in cuffs soon after Nolan’s report. But it wouldn’t last long—months later, a jury found him innocent, citing a lack of evidence. Of the event, Tinney said that it was nothing more than a publicity stunt for Nolan.
But he had more than just accusations up his sleeve.
12. Tinney Planned To Run Away To Jolly Old
In the wake of Tinney’s monstrous behavior and the legal drama that had unfolded, he made to leave for England on an ocean liner called the Columbus. Unfortunately, his toxic relationship with Mary Nolan hadn’t reached its conclusion yet.
13. They Reconciled, Kinda Sorta
Two days before the Columbus raised its anchors, Tinney and Nolan gave love another shot. But it didn’t take the press long to catch a whiff of things, and the couple were photographed on Broadway.
Once again, they found themselves in the middle of an unwanted controversy.
14. Tinney Lost It. Again.
Apparently, Tinney didn’t appreciate the publicity that he and Nolan were still generating. He turned his ire on a photographer, smashing the shutterbug’s camera—a move that would get him sued.
15. Things Only Got Worse From There
Tinney had too much heat on him after his latest outburst, and sought refuge on the Columbus where he planned on holing up on board until departure. While waiting, however, he was served with divorce papers from his now-estranged wife. And then Mary Nolan showed up to say an extended bon voyage.
16. Nolan Refused To Leave The Ship
In the final hours before the Columbus’ scheduled departure time, Nolan and Tinney stayed put in his cabin. This assured they’d be safe from overzealous reporters hungry for more scandal—it didn’t assure they’d be safe from each other though. Departure time came and went, but Nolan wasn’t going anywhere.
She had to be escorted off the ship. In tears, she dished it up for the waiting press, proclaiming that Tinney was still the love of her life.
17. Her Ocean Liner Lunacy Got Her Canned
The press had a field day with Nolan’s antics on the Columbus. On top of all that, her boss, Florenz Ziegfeld, was incensed, having previously demanded that she drop Tinney to save her—and the Follies’—reputation. Now it was all too clear that she hadn’t followed his advice.
Ziegfeld, in turn, dropped Nolan like a hot potato. With no options left in Hollywood, Nolan had to strike out on her own.
18. She Just Couldn’t Quit Tinney
After getting the big boot from Hollywood as Bubbles Wilson, Mary Nolan lined up a vaudeville gig in France. Before arriving though, she made a pitstop in London—where she and Tinney tried the old sweetheart routine once more. But he couldn’t stay away from the bottle, and his out-of-control boozing led to even more brutal attacks on Nolan.
19. She Finally Left Him. For Good.
Fed up with Tinney’s inebriated and cruel behavior, Mary Nolan packed her bags and high-tailed it over to Germany, where fame awaited. It was only a matter of time before her charisma landed her steady work in front of the camera.
20. She Changed Her Name. Again.
Seeking a fresh start in Germany, Nolan wanted nothing more than to jettison her past scandals with a new identity. And so while in Europe, she adopted the moniker “Imogene Robertson” and let her bubbly personality do the rest.
21. She Got A Second Shot At Stardom In Deutschland
Nolan found that success in Germany came easy. She worked steadily for two years on a number of pictures while raking in the dough, but word got out that a hot new American ingénue was getting plenty of Teutonic moviegoers all hot and bothered.
Promising another shot at fame, Hollywood managed to convince Nolan to say verabschiedung and head back to Los Angeles.
22. She Changed Her Name. Again.
Nolan’s arrival back in America didn’t go unnoticed by the press and its insatiable lust for a juicy headline. Knowing that her “Bubbles” Wilson persona was now tainted by scandal, the pseudonym Mary Nolan was officially adopted by the actress.
Once again, she was ready for the spotlight—and boy did it shine bright, if only for a fleeting moment.
23. She Was Briefly An A-Lister
Back in Hollywood, Nolan quickly made a name for herself, starring in a string of hits with Universal Pictures including Good Morning, Judge, alongside silent film star Reginald Denny. Nolan found herself in the bigtime next with MGM, working with the likes of Hollywood heavyweights Lon Chaney and Lionel Barrymore.
Nolan’s films were all big money-makers, and in the late 1920s, she was once again on top of the world. But she couldn’t quite escape her unseemly past.
24. She Cozied Up With Another Married Man
After signing with Universal in 1927, Nolan caught the attention of a big-shot MGM studio exec named Eddie Mannix, who seemed to admire more than just her on-screen charm. The pair had a brief love affair, until Mannix put the kibosh on things and told Nolan to beat it.
But as we’ll remember, Nolan was never really good with break-ups.
25. She Was A Woman Scorned And Sought Revenge
Mary Nolan didn’t appreciate getting the heave-ho from Mannix. Feeling scorned and pride-sore, she went for the jugular by threatening to tell Mannix’s wife about their affair. But Mannix wasn’t a man you could just mess with.
26. He Was A Violent Monster
When Nolan threatened Mannix, he saw red and attacked her. It was another tragic turn of events for the starlet, who couldn’t seem to escape the den of sin, lust, and vice that called itself Hollywood.
27. She Got Hooked On Morphine
After Mannix’s attack on Mary Nolan, she ended up in the hospital for six agonizing months of recovery. It was also when she started developing a morphine addiction that would eventually lead to her dark end.
28. She Was The Target Of A Hollywood Smear Campaign
Eventually, Nolan attempted to sue Mannix for his barbaric behavior, but he had clout and studio money behind him. Things took a twisted turn as MGM’s publicity department started leaking stories to the press about Nolan’s salacious personal life.
She hadn’t expected it, but she had come up against a true juggernaut.
29. She Was Threatened By A Private Investigator
A final chapter in the saga of Nolan and Mannix happened when the slimeball studio exec sicced a private investigator on her, in hopes this would finally bring about an end to Nolan’s lawsuit. Knowing full well that she was battling addiction, the PI warned that Nolan would get popped for possession—all he had to do was make the call.
The threat seemed to do the trick, and she dropped the whole thing like a sack of rotten cabbages.
30. She Had Her Fair Share Of Diva Moments
In 1930, Mary Nolan was working on the dramatic picture What Men Want, but her ego got the better of her after seeing her co-stars get one too many close-up shots. She threw a tantrum for not getting equal star treatment, but her on-set dramatics backfired. She was kicked off of the picture.
31. She Threatened To Sue
Scorned once more and out for blood, Nolan threated Universal with litigation. Instead of a drawn-out court battle, the studio sought a quick solution. They bought out Nolan’s contract. It solved that problem—but left her career in jeopardy.
32. Her Name Was As Good As Mud
After the dust-up with Universal, Mary Nolan couldn’t find the respectable kind of A-lister work she’d grown accustomed to. The town was talking, and her reputation for meltdowns, tantrums, and far worse behavior spread far and wide.
33. She Ended Her Film Career Making B-Movies
Unfortunately, the damage was done. Nolan’s well-earned reputation for bad behavior and pill-popping tanked her career. Afterward, she could only find work on the rock-bottom low-budget B-movie circuit.
34. Her Final Film Has Been Lost
Mary Nolan had once essentially been considered as famous as the President, yet her final years in Hollywood were a lesson in obscurity. While working the B-movie circuit, Nolan’s final film was the 1932 noir-thriller titled File 13, produced by the short-lived Allied Pictures. Unfortunately, the movie is now believed lost to time.
35. She Was Married. For A Year.
Blacklisted from Hollywood, Nolan sought consolation in the arms of a man named Wallace T McCreary, an investor by trade. After a brief courtship, the couple tied the knot in March of 1931. But misery loves company, as their ill-fated nuptials would soon prove.
36. Her Husband Was A Really, Really Bad Investor
Days before the couple’s wedding, McCreary demonstrated an almost dazzling lack of professional competence by losing an eye-watering $3 million in the markets. That’s nearly $60 million in today’s value. No doubt that Nolan saw her romance turn from riches to rags overnight, but she still gave matrimony the old college try.
37. They Briefly Ran A Very Unsuccessful Dress Shop
Financial misfortune seemed to follow McCreary and Nolan around like stink on hot garbage. The pair ran a dress shop in Los Angeles, but it closed in only 40 days and made a less-than-whopping $85 in revenue.
38. They Totally Stiffed Their Employees
Mary Nolan and McCreary knew as much about running a dress shop as a poodle knows about advanced calculus. But the real tea is that the pair outright refused to pay their employees—an ill-fated decision that would have serious consequences.
39. She Wasn’t Very Good At Committing Crimes
Nolan’s screen fame was rivalled by her real-world infamy and consistent lack of good judgement. Unsurprisingly, the actress had more than a few run-ins with John Law over the years. Nolan’s first arrest occurred in 1931, after her landlord accused her of lifting a $200 rug from the house she was renting.
With her A-list career over, Nolan now had time to plump up her rap sheet.
40. The Rug Eventually Resurfaced—On The Floor Of A Doctor’s House
It seems that Nolan had been in need of medical attention, but couldn’t pony up the dough to pay for a doctor—until she offered him her landlord’s rug in trade for his services. For a crime that was both bizarre and unexpected, only one thing remains certain: it must have been a very nice rug.
41. Her Dress Shop Antics Eventually Landed Her In The Slammer
After their retail dream went bust, Mary Nolan still had to pay the piper—this time in the form of several very disgruntled former employees who’d accused her and McCreary of failure to pay wages.
A judge certainly agreed with the plaintiffs, and the couple were each sentenced to 30 days in jail for violating 32 labor laws. Talk about the judge giving them a real “dressing down”…
42. She Was Good At Having Bad Debt
Mary Nolan simply couldn’t scrape by without getting herself in trouble. Years later, in 1937, Nolan was jailed once more—this time for failing to pay a four-year-old bill of $405.87 on a dress she’d taken from a shop called The Wilma Gowns. Sadly, from here, her fall downward would only continue.
43. She Was Slumming It In Times Square
In only a few short years, Mary Nolan had gone from living in the lap of LA luxury to schlepping around a string of two-bit rooming houses near Times Square. After her bad debt arrest though, her living situation would get even worse.
44. She Was Admitted To A Psychiatric Hospital
During her time in the clink, Mary Nolan was transferred to the psychiatric ward of Bellevue Hospital. However, the tabloids still had a nose for gossip—even about a star who’d fallen so far. They tracked her down and asked how she’d ended up there. Nolan explained to the press that her arrest had caused her “severe nervous strain”.
Even against the odds, she still couldn’t quit.
45. She Returned To The New York Nightclub Circuit
After getting out of Bellevue, Mary Nolan tried valiantly to return to the stage, performing at various Big Apple clubs. But her problems with substance misuse got the better of her, landing her in the hospital in the fall of 1937. But, to her surprise, she still had people who would look out for her.
46. She Tried To Get Clean—With A Little Help
Once word got out that Nolan had almost kicked the bucket, the Actors Fund of America stepped in to help straighten her out. Nolan soon found herself getting sober at the Brunswick Home, where she stayed for a year receiving more psychiatric treatment to finally put her may demons to rest.
47. She Just Couldn’t Stay Away From Hollywood
Mary Nolan finally left the psychiatric hospital in 1939, returning to the place where her dreams were both realized and then subsequently shattered like so much cheap glass. Whatever that town was offering, Nolan couldn’t get enough of it.
48. She Changed Her Name. Again.
Back in Hollywood, Nolan sought to distance herself from the years of bad tabloid coverage and a reputation for scandal that would make Errol Flynn blush. She changed her name once more, this time to the innocuous everywoman’s designation of May Wilson. Having sought obscurity in a California bungalow, Nolan still had a lifetime’s worth of stories to tell.
49. She Sold Her Life Story To A Magazine
Desperate for money, Nolan managed to swing a deal with the popular magazine The American Weekly. Running as a serial over several weeks, “Confessions of a Follies Girl” was Nolan’s opportunity to tell her side of the story—for better or worse.
50. She Still Performed After Being Blacklisted By Hollywood
In her later years, after becoming persona non grata in Tinseltown, Nolan still found a way to make a buck on the stage by performing in roadhouses and nightclubs around the country.
However, Nolan’s final years were far, far removed from the glitz and glamour of her earlier life. she only just managed to scrape together a modest living.
51. She Died Mostly Forgotten—On Halloween
After a series of significant health issues including malnutrition, Mary Nolan finally succumbed to her addiction, and passed on October 31, 1948. Her body was discovered in her three-room bungalow apartment she shared with sister Mabel. The coroner couldn’t determine if her passing had been accidental, or if she’d chosen to take her own life.
52. She Once Owned Rudolph Valentino’s Piano
Nolan didn’t leave much in the way of worldly goods after leaving this mortal coil. However, amongst her few meagre possessions featured in an estate sale was a genuine piano owned by another silent film heartthrob who died tragically young: Rudolph Valentino.