Tea with The O'Connor Sisters
In March, 1986, when I was writing Heritage, a local history column for the Toronto Star, I was invited by Norma Carrier to meet her friends, the singing O’Connor sisters. They were the two surviving sisters of a famous Vaudeville family act. Born in Etobicoke, they had toured North America for years, sharing the stage with many of the greatest performers of the era.
At that time Norma was the Chair of the Etobicoke Historical Board which ran Montgomery’s Inn and served as a Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee. Seldom without her cigarettes, Norma was a force of nature who managed an annual fundraising fall fair for Applewood house and was an enthusiastic organizer and supporter of all sorts of local history projects.
The O’Connor sisters, Madeline and Geraldine, both around 90 at the time, were the sole survivors of a family of eight girls and one boy. They lived in an 1850s farmhouse at 12 Connorvale Avenue in Alderwood that had been purchased in 1878 by their grandfather.
The O’Connors had once owned a 50-acre fruit farm with extensive orchards and delicious strawberries and raspberries that found a ready market in Toronto. The surviving sisters had been selling off their land year after year until only the house remained. A small storey-and-a-half Regency cottage with 3-foot-thick fieldstone walls, it originally faced south with a large lawn fronting on Horner Avenue. But the property had been subdivided in such a way that Connorvale Avenue now passed to the east and the house was left sitting sideways on the tiny remaining parcel of land.
We were warmly greeted at the door by the two sisters and ushered into a home that was crowded with bric-a-brac and the old-fashioned mementos of long lives that had been well lived. They gave us tea and cookies and I quietly started asking them about their lives.
Although they were fourth-generation Canadians, I thought I could detect a slight Irish lilt to their voices. They spoke of growing up on their Etobicoke farm. They had horses and all of the girls became excellent riders.
At that time Norma was the Chair of the Etobicoke Historical Board which ran Montgomery’s Inn and served as a Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee. Seldom without her cigarettes, Norma was a force of nature who managed an annual fundraising fall fair for Applewood house and was an enthusiastic organizer and supporter of all sorts of local history projects.
The O’Connor sisters, Madeline and Geraldine, both around 90 at the time, were the sole survivors of a family of eight girls and one boy. They lived in an 1850s farmhouse at 12 Connorvale Avenue in Alderwood that had been purchased in 1878 by their grandfather.
The O’Connors had once owned a 50-acre fruit farm with extensive orchards and delicious strawberries and raspberries that found a ready market in Toronto. The surviving sisters had been selling off their land year after year until only the house remained. A small storey-and-a-half Regency cottage with 3-foot-thick fieldstone walls, it originally faced south with a large lawn fronting on Horner Avenue. But the property had been subdivided in such a way that Connorvale Avenue now passed to the east and the house was left sitting sideways on the tiny remaining parcel of land.
We were warmly greeted at the door by the two sisters and ushered into a home that was crowded with bric-a-brac and the old-fashioned mementos of long lives that had been well lived. They gave us tea and cookies and I quietly started asking them about their lives.
Although they were fourth-generation Canadians, I thought I could detect a slight Irish lilt to their voices. They spoke of growing up on their Etobicoke farm. They had horses and all of the girls became excellent riders.
The sisters said that they lived for the parties that their parents, John and Ellen O’Connor, would throw, especially garden parties in the summer. John played the violin and all his daughters sang and performed from an early age. Madeline told me that she started singing in public at one of those garden parties when she was only three.
The girls sang together with beautiful harmony and their fame grew locally. One day in 1910, a relative from Buffalo arranged an audition with Michael Shea, owner of the Shea Theatre chain. He was enthralled with their singing. The four older sisters, Anna, Ada, Mary and Nellie, made their stage debut at Shea’s Buffalo and the audience loved them, calling them back to the stage again and again for encores.
Madeline said that the O’Connor Sisters had a couple of unique advantages over other groups. “Each of the girls had a different vocal range, so their voices blended together in beautiful harmony. They also had powerful voices, which was very important in the days before microphones.”
At first, their mother Ellen made their costumes, but by 1915 the girls were buying top quality stage gowns in New York for $1,000 each.
When Kathleen and Vera joined the act, there were six singing O’Connor Sisters on stage. There were similar acts in Vaudeville, but none featured six women who were actually sisters. Eventually, some of the older girls got married and retired. Madeline was the last sister to join the act.
Madeline claimed she wasn’t the least bit nervous on her stage debut in New York in 1923. The Vaudeville season lasted from the early fall through to the end of spring the next year. Summers were special because they were spent at home, helping out on the farm. “There was always a big musical homecoming party for the girls,” she said.
The acts the girls played with included Jimmy Durante, Sophie Tucker, Buster Keaton, Eddy Cantor, Gracie Allen and George Burns, and Edgar Bergen. At different times George and Ira Gershwin and Irving Berlin helped them with their musical arrangements.
Sometimes the girls would turn down bookings. They refused to tour Europe because it would have taken them away from home for too long. Another time they turned down an engagement starring the Marx Brothers, although they were offered double their usual fee. The problem was that the show was to take place in a seedy burlesque house and, as good Catholic girls protecting their reputations, the sisters declined.
As the youngest sister, Geraldine never became part of the act. The Great Depression and competition from radio and movie houses meant that the days of Vaudeville were drawing to a close. Madeline said that sometimes the competition was downright unfair. “The owners of the chains of movie houses would buy the Vaudeville theatres, just so they could close them down.”
Perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, Geraldine attended the University of Toronto and had a successful career in business, working at the Goodyear rubber plant on Lakeshore Boulevard from the 1930s until she retired in the 1960s. She would come out and see her sisters perform, but she didn’t sing professionally with them until 1974 when the CBC was filming a documentary about the group.
The O’Connor sisters played their last show at Shea’s Buffalo in 1937 – ending where they began – sharing the bill with a rising young comedian named Red Skelton.
The afternoon was passing quickly and Norma prevailed upon the girls to sing for us. We moved over to the piano and Geraldine played while she and Madeline sang the songs of their youth between World War I and the 1930s. Their voices were bright and full of life and they put a lot of energy into their performance. You could almost imagine them on the stage of a packed Vaudeville house.
I asked Madeline if she missed the glamour of show business. She replied that she did sometimes and she missed the old songs. “Some music today isn’t real music at all!” she said. But through the years, she and her sister had never stopped singing their favourite songs.
Eventually we said our goodbyes and I went home to write up my notes. My column appeared in the Toronto Star on Tuesday, March 26, 1986 and I was surprised to see a picture of the two O’Connor sisters on the front page of the Neighbours West section. The Star had sent photographer Brian Pickell to take a picture of them and they had so charmed the photographer and my editor that Madeline and Geraldine were the cover girls that week.
Sadly, I never met the sisters again. That October, I saw a beautiful picture of a smiling Madeline in the Etobicoke Guardian. It accompanied a story about Candy Stripers (volunteer nursing helpers) at Queensway General Hospital. Madeline was a patient receiving a get-well card from the young volunteer featured in the story. Just a few days later she was gone. Madeline O’Connor passed away on October 5, 1986.
At some point soon after, Geraldine left the family home and it was sold to a developer and demolished in 1989. A heritage plaque currently stands on the site. Geraldine O’Connor died on January 14, 1993, an event that was picked up by the Canadian Press and broadcast across the country as the end of an era.
As the youngest sister, Geraldine never became part of the act. The Great Depression and competition from radio and movie houses meant that the days of Vaudeville were drawing to a close. Madeline said that sometimes the competition was downright unfair. “The owners of the chains of movie houses would buy the Vaudeville theatres, just so they could close them down.”
Perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, Geraldine attended the University of Toronto and had a successful career in business, working at the Goodyear rubber plant on Lakeshore Boulevard from the 1930s until she retired in the 1960s. She would come out and see her sisters perform, but she didn’t sing professionally with them until 1974 when the CBC was filming a documentary about the group.
The O’Connor sisters played their last show at Shea’s Buffalo in 1937 – ending where they began – sharing the bill with a rising young comedian named Red Skelton.
The afternoon was passing quickly and Norma prevailed upon the girls to sing for us. We moved over to the piano and Geraldine played while she and Madeline sang the songs of their youth between World War I and the 1930s. Their voices were bright and full of life and they put a lot of energy into their performance. You could almost imagine them on the stage of a packed Vaudeville house.
I asked Madeline if she missed the glamour of show business. She replied that she did sometimes and she missed the old songs. “Some music today isn’t real music at all!” she said. But through the years, she and her sister had never stopped singing their favourite songs.
Eventually we said our goodbyes and I went home to write up my notes. My column appeared in the Toronto Star on Tuesday, March 26, 1986 and I was surprised to see a picture of the two O’Connor sisters on the front page of the Neighbours West section. The Star had sent photographer Brian Pickell to take a picture of them and they had so charmed the photographer and my editor that Madeline and Geraldine were the cover girls that week.
Sadly, I never met the sisters again. That October, I saw a beautiful picture of a smiling Madeline in the Etobicoke Guardian. It accompanied a story about Candy Stripers (volunteer nursing helpers) at Queensway General Hospital. Madeline was a patient receiving a get-well card from the young volunteer featured in the story. Just a few days later she was gone. Madeline O’Connor passed away on October 5, 1986.
At some point soon after, Geraldine left the family home and it was sold to a developer and demolished in 1989. A heritage plaque currently stands on the site. Geraldine O’Connor died on January 14, 1993, an event that was picked up by the Canadian Press and broadcast across the country as the end of an era.
Researched and Written by Richard Jordan.
Please also see: Vaudeville’s O’Connor Sisters grew up on Alderwood farm