Theatre Register

Mary Eaton

Shows · Mary Eaton

Actor 1901–1948 On stage 19161927

Mary Eaton (January 29, 1901 – 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 during the 1930s.

On stage 11 productions, 11 years

1916 Follow Me Casino Theatre · Original · directed by J. H. Benrimo 78 perf.
1917 Over the Top Lew Fields 44th Street Roof Garden · Original · directed by J. C. Huffman 78 perf.
1919 The Passing Show of 1919 Winter Garden Theatre · Original · directed by J. C. Huffman 280 perf.
1919 The Royal Vagabond Cohan And Harris · Original · directed by Julian Mitchell 348 perf.
1920 Ziegfeld Follies of 1920 New Amsterdam Theatre · Original · directed by Edward Royce 123 perf.
1921 Ziegfeld Follies of 1921 Globe Theatre · Original · directed by Edward Royce 119 perf.
1922 Ziegfeld Follies of 1922 New Amsterdam Theatre · Original · directed by Ned Wayburn 424 perf.
1923 Kid Boots Earl Carroll Theatre · Original · directed by Edward Royce 489 perf.
1923 Ziegfeld Follies of 1923 [Summer Edition] New Amsterdam Theatre · Original · directed by Ned Wayburn 96 perf.
1927 Julius Caesar New Amsterdam Theatre · Revival · directed by John Craig 8 perf.
1927 Lucky New Amsterdam Theatre · Original · directed by Hassard Short 71 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once12 names

Jessie Reed 4 productions
Sonia Ivanoff 3 productions
Mary Lewis 3 productions
Martha Lorber 3 productions
Lily Kimari 3 productions
Irene Marcellus 3 productions
Helen Lee Worthing 3 productions
Frances Reveaux 3 productions
Edna Wheaton 3 productions
Avonne Taylor 3 productions
Anastasia Reilly 3 productions
Alma Drange 3 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership — a long-running company puts the same forty people together every night — but it is where one would start looking. 11 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

Also credited on2 works

The Cocoanuts
Ziegfeld Follies

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature3 passages

  • Cast: Fanny Brice, W. C. Fields, Raymond Hitchcock, Ray Dooley, Mary Milburn, Van & Schenck, Florence O’Denishawn, Vera Michelena, Mary Eaton, Channing Pollock, Mary Lewisebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • Cast: Will Rogers, Gilda Gray, Gallagher & Shean, Evelyn Law, Andrew Tombes, Florence O’Denishawn, Lulu McConnell, Mary Eaton, Nervo & Knox, Mary Lewis, Alexander Gray, Jack Whitingebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • King, Louise Groody and Stella Mayhew, “The Five O’Clock Girl” with Mary Eaton and Oscar Shaw, and “A Connecticut Yankee”theatre-pdfs/A Pictorial History of the American Theatre, 1860-1985 (Blum).txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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