A promising career on the Broadway stage came to a tragic and violent end for the actress Margaret Lawrence. At the age of 39, the socially prominent performer was discovered in her Manhattan apartment, the victim of a fatal gunshot wound. Her life was taken by the actor Louis Bennison, who then turned the weapon on himself in a shocking murder-suicide.
Lawrence had risen through the ranks of the theater world, beginning her career in Chicago before making her mark in New York City.
She graced the Broadway stage in a number of successful productions, including 'Wedding Bells' and 'Lawful Larceny.' Beyond her acting talents, she was a respected figure in New York society, known for her involvement in charitable organizations and her impressive collection of old plays. Her personal life had seen its own dramas; she had divorced the publisher of Scientific American, Orson D. Munn, with whom she had two daughters, and later married actor Wallace Eddinger.
The grim discovery was made on June 9, 1929. The motive behind Bennison's desperate act was not immediately clear, but the event sent shockwaves through the theatrical community and the city at large. The loss of a celebrated actress at the hands of a fellow performer was a dark chapter in the city's history. Following the tragedy, Margaret Lawrence was laid to rest in Philadelphia's Ivy Hill Cemetery.
