Edna Loftus anacristinafloresgaleana

Edna Loftus ( 1891 – 15 June 1916) was a British actress who was briefly married to champion jockey Winfield O'Connor and gained notoriety in the United States for marrying Harry A. Rheinstrom, the heir to a Cincinnati brewing fortune, against the wishes of his family in 1910. While trained for musical theater in her early career in London, she was a cafe singer and hotel operator during her later years in California as a means to support herself during her second husband's illness. She died in poverty in San Francisco in 1916 of tuberculosis after divorcing Rheinstrom in 1914.

Acting career Edna Loftus was born in London and grew up in Southwark. She first appeared at The Palace in a February 1906 revival of the musical comedy The Catch of the Season and as a female attendant in Madame Lingerie. She starred in the 1906 adaptation of The New Aladdin in the role of Madge Oliphant for the Gaiety Theater. While not a primary role, she was lauded by the theater publication The Tatler as being "a beauty", her photographs appearing in many of the publicity items for New Aladdin. She continued acting in the New Aladdin for most of 1906, but by December was starring in a production of The Babes in the Wood at the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh where she played the role of Molly the miller's daughter. By July 1907, she was performing in a revue Tu veux rire (You Want to Laugh) at the Ambassadeurs in Paris with Max Dearly and dancers Gaby Deslys and Vera Barton.

Loftus moved to the United States with her first husband in 1907 and traveled with the vaudeville acting troupe the Rain Dears in 1909. While some sources identified Cissie Loftus as her sister, she is not related to the actress.

Marriage to Winnie O'Connor Edna Loftus reportedly met champion American jockey Winfield Scott "Winnie" O'Connor at Eva Beaumont's Chicago Bar on the rue Taitbout in Paris. They were married on 26 June 1907 in Berlin and again by the American consul in Chantilly on 22 November to incorporate both Roman Catholic and Protestant ceremonies, as they were of different religious faiths. On the return voyage to New York, Loftus was almost blown overboard by a strong wind that struck the ship as she walked on the deck.

Marriage to Harry A. Rheinstrom

Edna Loftus remained in the United States after her divorce from O'Connor was finalized in 1909. She met 25-year-old Harry A. Rheinstrom in a lobster palace in New York City while acting on Broadway, with Rheinstrom spending $10,000 on gifts for Edna. Loftus successfully applied for release of Rheinstrom on a habeas corpus writ in January 1910. to obtain a marriage license in neighboring Independence, Kentucky and were married by a magistrate in Covington on 7 January 1910. The young couple settled on a small ranch approximately 40 miles from Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, and attempted to raise chickens and fruit to make a living. The press reported widely on the change in fortune for the actress, from dining on lobsters on the Great White Way to plucking chickens and cleaning house for her husband; the couple was stated as making a "declaration of supreme happiness" to each other.

However, the couple gave up farming in August 1910 and began reconciliation talks with Harry's mother. They moved to Oakland in September 1910, living on a $200 a month allowance given by Mrs. Rheinstrom. Upon moving to town, the Rheinstroms reportedly spent the monthly allowance within three days and borrowed large sums of money. To cover the cost of her husband's psychiatric treatment, Loftus contracted with a San Francisco cafe to give nightly concerts for a six-week period. Rheinstrom was initially committed to a local asylum in Fruitvale run by Dr. Frank S. Lowell, but was arrested after Loftus organized his escape. These excesses led Mrs. Rheinstrom to cut off their allowance and initiate court proceedings in November 1910 that ultimately led to a guardianship for Harry Rheinstrom without Edna's influence and to him being committed to the state asylum in Stockton, where he would remain for the remainder of their marriage. After the judgement, Loftus was unable to find work in vaudeville and attempted suicide on 20 December 1910 by throwing herself in Spreckels Lake, where she was rescued by a passing motorist.

Legal battles with the Rheinstroms Loftus considered suing for divorce from Rheinstrom in early 1911 and hired an attorney, the former Olympic athlete Ralph Rose to represent her interests. While traveling with Rose by train from San Jose to Oakland on 24 October 1911 to reach a possible settlement with the Rheinstroms, Loftus suffered a mental breakdown ("hysteria" as indicated by the press) at the Oakland train depot and was committed to the Oakland Receiving Hospital for treatment. The cause of the illness was presumed to be related to continued legal difficulties with Mrs. Rheinstrom, with her sudden "elation" over a possible settlement with the Rheinstroms giving way to depression on release from hospital. she was buried in Cypress Lawn Cemetery. Harry Rheinstrom was released from the state hospital in February 1914 shortly after the divorce was finalized. He never remarried and was killed on 14 October 1918 after he fell at a Philadelphia shipyard while working for the government (predeceasing his mother). Her first husband, Winnie O'Connor, married the actress Neva Aymar (d. 1932) and died on 6 March 1947 after losing his fortune in the stock market crash of 1929.

For a biography of Loftus see David Grasse, From the Footlights to the Tenderloin – The Tragic Life of Actress Edna Loftus (McFarland, 2024).