Mary Hay Caldwell (August 22, 1901 â€" June 4, 1957) was an American
dancer, musical comedy and silent screen actress, playwright and
former Ziegfeld girl.Hay was born at Fort Bliss in Texas on August 22,
1901, the daughter of Frank Merrill Caldwell (1866â€"1937), a West
Point graduate and noted career army officer, and Mary Hay
(1865â€"1957), the daughter of an Oshkosh, Wisconsin, hardware
merchant.Hay was a graduate of the Anna Head School for Girls in
Berkeley and had studied dance at Ruth St. Denis’ Denishawn studio
in Los Angeles. During this period film directors would often recruit
Denis’ students to fill minor dancing roles, a process that one day
led to Hay being chosen by D. W. Griffith to play the little French
dancer in the 1918 World War I film, Hearts of the World.Taking
Griffith's advice to get stage experience before entering film, the
following year Hay traveled to New York where she was given the
opportunity to play in a Ziegfeld Follies comedy skit opposite a
talented trick performing dog. The dog was played by comedian Phil
Dwyer. Realizing she had stage presence, Ziegfeld soon elevated Hay to
dance in his Nine O’clock Frolic, Ziegfeld Follies of 1919 and
Ziegfeld Girls of 1920 performances staged at the New Amsterdam Roof
Theatre
dancer, musical comedy and silent screen actress, playwright and
former Ziegfeld girl.Hay was born at Fort Bliss in Texas on August 22,
1901, the daughter of Frank Merrill Caldwell (1866â€"1937), a West
Point graduate and noted career army officer, and Mary Hay
(1865â€"1957), the daughter of an Oshkosh, Wisconsin, hardware
merchant.Hay was a graduate of the Anna Head School for Girls in
Berkeley and had studied dance at Ruth St. Denis’ Denishawn studio
in Los Angeles. During this period film directors would often recruit
Denis’ students to fill minor dancing roles, a process that one day
led to Hay being chosen by D. W. Griffith to play the little French
dancer in the 1918 World War I film, Hearts of the World.Taking
Griffith's advice to get stage experience before entering film, the
following year Hay traveled to New York where she was given the
opportunity to play in a Ziegfeld Follies comedy skit opposite a
talented trick performing dog. The dog was played by comedian Phil
Dwyer. Realizing she had stage presence, Ziegfeld soon elevated Hay to
dance in his Nine O’clock Frolic, Ziegfeld Follies of 1919 and
Ziegfeld Girls of 1920 performances staged at the New Amsterdam Roof
Theatre
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