Winifred Toomey in Radio Digest December 1930, with her reported 28 brown curls.
Winifred Toomey (1919 – 2005), Radio's First Contracted Child Star?
Winifred Toomey and Betty Manshardt (WBBC), 1928
Tom Mix Adventures c, 1933 - c.1937 as Jane
The Country Doctor 1935
Irene Rich Lady Counselor 1936
Winifred Eileen Toomey Dargan March 22, 1919 – September 20, 2005,
Winifred Toomey was an active child star in the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s. She is probably best known to OTR fans today as the first Jane on the "Tom Mix Adventures" radio program. Her name pops enough along with better known child actors of the era like Elizabeth "Betty" Wragge, Jimmy McCallion, Patricia Ryan and Franklin Adams. However, I am unaware of a fully published biography of her until now. It took a bit of genealogical research to learn more about Toomey's life.
Winifred Eileen Toomey was born March 22, 1919 in Brooklyn, NY a middle daughter of Thomas Toomey a Wall Street clerk and the former Mary Bogart. Her sisters were Mary and Kathleen. As a child and well into her teens, her age was reported differently from source to source suggesting her age was reduced so she would seem younger.
From the "Who's Who In Radio" 1930, Winifred began dancing in the Agnes Vernon Studios for Dramatic Arts at the age of 2. She reportedly began singing on radio by the age of 4. According to an NPR article, she was one of several featured singers on a December 30, 1924 radio celebration with the Marx Brothers. Toomey was also listed on a program to benefit crippled children with children's book author David Cory broadcast on Sunday April 25, 1927 for WNYC, New York. In an interview Toomey gave at age 17, she claimed that it was not long after her debut in radio at 4 1/2 that she was offered a commercial radio contract for WJZ, -- the first child to have such a contract.
Toomey was one of several children, if not the first under the direction of Madge Tucker on "The Children's Hour" after NBC acquired the station. When asked in an interview what she would want to be as an adult, Winifred answered "Oh, I just want to be one thing. Just like Miss Tucker." In 1928, her name was billed with another child performer Betty Manshardt for a singing program over WBBC (Brooklyn Broadcasting Company).
By the age of 10, Toomey was a frequently cited example of radio's wonder children; those child stars who had salaries that could support families like Baby Rose Marie. In the press she was usually singled out for her blonde brown curls and Irish features. She occasionally gave candid quotes, like how different she was from her red-headed sisters who had no creative talents. While appearing on NBC children's programs like Our Barn and the Lady Next Door, Toomey was cast the daughter "Bonnie" in the Bon Ami radio program, Lorraine on the Toddy program, and Alice Derby on the Mystery House stories program.
The role that she is most referenced for in radio histories was as the first Jane, young female ward on the popular Tom Mix radio series. Tom Mix debuted in New York in 1933 with Artells Dickson as Tom, Andy Donnelly as Jim brother of Jane. Very popular in its radio run that lasted until 1950, the production would move to Chicago in 1937, but not most of the cast. The role of Jane was recast with Jane Webb. 1937 is also the same year many references to Winifred's career end.
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| NBC Radio portrait of Winifred Toomey. From the Joe Hehn Memorial Collection. Old Time Radio Researchers Group. https://archive.org/details/photosJHMC |
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| Image from Buffalo Evening News, June 15, 1936. From Fultonhistory.com |
Very little has been found to date about Toomey's life after her marriage to Robert Travis Dargan. In the 1940 census, Winifred Dargan is listed as a radio actress for an occupation. No roles or cast listings have been found for "Winifred Toomey" or Winifred Dargan" after 1937. The couple were married until his death in 2004. Winifred Eileen Toomey Dargan passed away a year later on September 20, 2005 at the age of 86. The couple had a daughter Barbara who predeceased them in 1994.
If you have more information about Winifred Toomey, please leave a comment, or email - archivebuilder@gmail.com with "Winifred Toomey" as the subject.
Additional Sources:
Scarberry, Alma Sioux. "Just Nine Years Old". Plattsburgh Daily Republican, 4 April 1930. Pg. 6. https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=pdr19300404-01.1.6&srpos=3&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-%22winifred+toomey%22---------
Winifred Eileen (Toomey) Dargan. Find-A-Grave profile: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/176658519/winifred-e-dargan
