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American actress From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monica Bannister (September 8, 1910 – June 17, 2002) was a Canadian-born American actress, best known for her role in Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933).
Monica Bannister | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Bannister in The Flying Deuces (1939) | |
| Born | Monica Joyce Bannister September 8, 1910 Forward, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| Died | June 17, 2002 (aged 91) San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Monica Wilbanks, Monica Cherkhose, Monica Van Munster |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Notable work | Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), The Cowboy and the Blonde (1941) |
Bannister was born in Forward, Saskatchewan, and raised in the Pacific Northwest, the daughter of Harry Frederick Bannister and Josephine Mathilda Hagen Bannister. Her father was a candy maker.[1] She graduated from Tillamook High School in Oregon, in 1928.[2]
Bannister was an actress, signed to a contract at the Warner First National studio in 1932.[3][4] She played "Joan Gale" in Michael Curtiz's Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933),[5][6] and "Maybelle" and The Cowboy and the Blonde (1941). She also made many smaller appearances in films of the 1930s and 1940s, including Hypnotized (1932),[7] Jimmy the Gent (1934),[8] The Great Ziegfeld (1936),[9] Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937),[10] Flowing Gold (1940),[11][12] Accent on Love (1941),[7] and Quiet Please, Murder (1942).[13]
In addition to her film work, Bannister was considered a stylish beauty, and was often photographed in swimsuits or gowns.[14] She worked as a showgirl in the Hollywood Restaurant and Cabaret, a popular New York supper club in the 1930s.[15] In 1932, Bannister was named Queen of the Los Angeles Dahlia Show, and photographs of her wearing a dress made entirely from dahlias appeared in newspapers.[16] Her beauty hints were also featured in newspapers in the 1930s.[17][18] She was said to enjoy boxing for fitness.[19]
Bannister married several times. Her first husband was Eugene Willbanks; they divorced in 1935.[20] She married again in 1937, to actor and writer Eddie Cherkose.[21] They divorced in 1939,[22] reconciled, and divorced again in 1940.[23] Her third husband was Max Nolan Lanier;[24] they divorced in the 1940s. In 1952 she married machinist Johan Hendrik Van Munster. He died in 2001,[25] and she died in 2002, in San Diego, California, at the age of 91.[26] "She was a Zigfield girl, and worked on the first space shuttle," said her obituary.[27]
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