Mary Eaton (January 29, 1901 â€" October 10, 1948) was an American
stage actress, singer, and dancer in the 1910s and 1920s, probably
best known today from her appearance in the first Marx Brothers film
The Cocoanuts (1929). A professional performer since childhood, she
enjoyed success in stage productions such as the Ziegfeld Follies. She
appeared in another early sound film Glorifying the American Girl
(1929). Her career declined sharply by the mid-1930s and a battle with
alcoholism led to her premature death in 1948 from liver
failure.Eaton, a native of Norfolk, Virginia, began attending dance
lessons in Washington, DC, along with her sisters Doris and Pearl, at
the age of seven. In 1911, all three sisters were hired for a
production of Maurice Maeterlinck's fantasy play The Blue Bird at the
Shubert Belasco Theatre in Washington, D.C. While Eaton had a minor
role in the show, it marked the beginning of her career in
professional theatre.After The Blue Bird ended, in 1912, the three
Eaton sisters and their younger brother Joe began appearing in various
plays and melodramas for the Poli stock company. They quickly gained
reputations as professional, reliable, and versatile actors, and were
rarely out of work. A 1914 newspaper article described Mary Eaton as
"the newest and littlest member of the company", adding that she had
"admirable poise and grace."
stage actress, singer, and dancer in the 1910s and 1920s, probably
best known today from her appearance in the first Marx Brothers film
The Cocoanuts (1929). A professional performer since childhood, she
enjoyed success in stage productions such as the Ziegfeld Follies. She
appeared in another early sound film Glorifying the American Girl
(1929). Her career declined sharply by the mid-1930s and a battle with
alcoholism led to her premature death in 1948 from liver
failure.Eaton, a native of Norfolk, Virginia, began attending dance
lessons in Washington, DC, along with her sisters Doris and Pearl, at
the age of seven. In 1911, all three sisters were hired for a
production of Maurice Maeterlinck's fantasy play The Blue Bird at the
Shubert Belasco Theatre in Washington, D.C. While Eaton had a minor
role in the show, it marked the beginning of her career in
professional theatre.After The Blue Bird ended, in 1912, the three
Eaton sisters and their younger brother Joe began appearing in various
plays and melodramas for the Poli stock company. They quickly gained
reputations as professional, reliable, and versatile actors, and were
rarely out of work. A 1914 newspaper article described Mary Eaton as
"the newest and littlest member of the company", adding that she had
"admirable poise and grace."
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