Marjorie Hannan (born ) was an American actress.

Early years

Hannan was born in

Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located north of Cincinnati along the Great Miami River, Hamilton is the second-most populous city in the Cincinnati metropolitan area and the List of municipaliti ...

, and she majored in physical education at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

(UC). While she attended UC, she also studied at the Schuster-Martin School of Dramatic Art. In July 1930 she was chosen from applicants recommended by six schools of the arts in the Cincinnati area to be the first guest student at Cincinnati's Three Arts Club, with her residence there beginning in September 1930. Hannan, who graduated from the drama school in 1931, was a tap dancer who was featured in the school's 1931 senior dance recital. She was also an

Albertina Rasch Albertina Rasch (January 19, 1891 – October 2, 1967) was an Austrian-American dancer, company director, and choreographer. Early life Rasch was born in 1891 (although she would later shave five years off her age), in Vienna (in what was then ...

dancer. She taught at Mother of Mercy High School in Cincinnati but found that her interests lay more in drama.

Career

Hannan left teaching to seek work on stage in New York. After six months there with no success she returned to Cincinnati, where she became an actress on radio station

WLW WLW (700 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial news/talk radio station city of license, licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, WLW is a clear-channel station, often identifying itself as "The Big One". Its studios ...

. Hannan's performance in a 1930 radio adaptation of ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

'' led to advances in her career. A production manager, attracted by her ability and her voice, "arranged the commercial audition that started her on the road up." On network radio, Hannah portrayed Ruth Ann on ''

Bachelor's Children ''Bachelor's Children'' is a domestic daytime drama broadcast that originated on Chicago's WGN in 1935–36, continuing on CBS and NBC until September 27, 1946. Premise ''Bachelor's Children'' followed the daily travails of two friends, Dr. Bo ...

'' and Fay on ''

Ma Perkins ''Ma Perkins'' (sometimes called ''Oxydol's Own Ma Perkins'') is an American radio soap opera that was heard on NBC from 1933 to 1949 and on CBS from 1942 to 1960. It was also broadcast in Canada, and Radio Luxembourg carried it in Europe. T ...

''. Other radio programs on which Hannan performed included ''Sally of the Talkies'' and ''The Mysterious Doctor Mikalin''. Hannan retired from radio in the mid-1940s, a move that led to the death of the character that she had portrayed on ''Bachelor's Children'' for more than 10 years.

Bess Flynn Bess McAllister Flynn (August 1886 - February 28, 1976) was an American actress and a writer of radio soap operas. Early years Born Bess McAllister in Iowa in August 1886, Flynn was the daughter of a schoolmaster and a teacher. She began teaching ...

, the program's author, wrote that "a very fine actress" was hired to take over the role, but "she was not Ruth Ann!" Flynn added, "To me, Ruth Ann died with Miss Hannan's leaving the show" and the stories would continue to be convincing only if the character died."

Personal life

Hannan was married to radio executive Myron Reck, and they had a son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hannan, Marjorie 1910s births Actresses from Ohio American radio actresses American soap opera actresses Year of death unknown People from Hamilton, Ohio University of Cincinnati alumni 20th-century American actresses