Johnstone Bennett

Johnstone Bennett (1870 – April 14, 1906) was an American actress and vaudeville performer whose given name was Walenton, or possibly Valentine, Cronise. The circumstances of her birth were disputed, with various sources placing it in France, Spain, or at sea. As an infant she was adopted in the United States by a woman named Mary Bennett, and following Bennett's death she was taken in by actress Sibyl Johnstone. She combined the surnames of both women to form the name by which she became known professionally.

Bennett's stage career began in earnest when she was discovered while performing with a small touring company and subsequently cast by Richard Mansfield in Monsieur at Madison Square Theatre in 1887. She remained with Mansfield's company for several years, appearing in Prince Karl and Lesbia in 1887, A Parisian Romance and Honor Bright in 1888, and Beau Brummell in 1890. During this same period she also took roles in All the Comforts of a Home and A Noble Son in 1889. She went on to appear in starring roles in Jane in 1891, as well as The Amazon and Fanny, and in 1895 she appeared in The Story of Rodion. Her Broadway credit came in 1898 with the musical A Female Drummer. In vaudeville she performed in sketches titled A Quiet Evening at Home and American Types.

Off the stage, Bennett was recognized for her distinctly masculine style of dress and presentation. She wore short hair and masculine clothing both in her personal life and in her professional work, collected cuff buttons and shirt studs, and had her skirts constructed with trouser-style pockets. She employed a male valet rather than a maid or press agent, and she lent her name to a haberdashery company in New York.

In her final years Bennett fell into poverty and relied on assistance from the Actors' Fund. She relocated to California in an attempt to improve her health, but her condition did not recover and she returned to New Jersey. She died of tuberculosis in Bloomfield, New Jersey in 1906 at the age of 36.