Doris Eaton tribute

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page originally published on 24 September 2010; latest revision: 17 October 2020

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(above) three photos of Broadway performer Doris Eaton, later Doris Eaton Travis

• left — by Moffett, labeled by my source “age 19” which would be c. 1923, but this is probably incorrect — I suspect that my source might have mistaken 1919 for age 19. It’s more likely that Eaton was about 14-15 when this and the other two photos above were taken. Lending support to this conjecture is the fact that Eaton’s last Follies appearance (at least on opening night), according to IBDb, was in 1920 at the ripe old age of 16, though she performed in several additional Broadway productions from 1924-1935.
• middle — undated photo by Moffett; evidently wearing the same outfit as is worn in the other two photos
• right– undated; appears to wear the same outfit as worn in the other two photos, but her hair is much longer in this one

At age 14 in 1918, according to Wikipedia, Doris Eaton became the youngest Ziegfeld Girl ever to be cast in the Follies. Wikipedia gives her birth date as 14 March 1904.

Doris Eaton links:

• Wikipedia
• IBDb
• IMDb
  • IMDb “Mini Bio” by John C. Hopwood

Obit:

• Playbill

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From Wikipedia:

When her career in stage and screen declined, she started a second career as an Arthur Murray dance instructor and local television personality in Detroit. Her association with Arthur Murray lasted for three decades, during which time she rose through the ranks to own and manage a chain of nearly 20 schools. After retiring from her career with Arthur Murray, she went on to manage a horse ranch with her husband and returned to school, eventually earning several degrees.

In her later years, Travis had returned to the public eye. As the last surviving Ziegfeld Girl, she was featured in several books and documentaries about the Ziegfeld Follies and her other stage endeavors. Eaton Travis had also returned to the stage as a featured performer in benefit performances for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

As of 2010, says Wikipedia, Doris Eaton Travis was, along with Miriam Seegar and Barbara Kent, one of the last surviving non-child actors who appeared in silent films. She died, age 106, on May 11, 2010.

Two undated photos of Doris Eaton in costume (above, left ) by Alfred Cheney Johnston, probably taken between 1918 and 1920; (right) by Lewis-Smith studio

Below: slide show tribute — music: Red Lips, Kiss My Blues Away (w.m. Alfred Bryan, James V. Monaco and Pete Wendling) – recording by Leo Reisman and His Orchestra, vocal: Harry Maxfield, Columbia 1927

Ziegfeld Girls slide show

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