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Jeanne Eagels
Jeanne Eagels (born Eugenia Eagles; June 26, 1890 – October 3, 1929) was an American stage and film actress. Eagels appeared in many Broadway productions, and in the emerging medium of sound films. She was posthumously nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her 1929 role in The Letter after dying suddenly that year at the age of 39.
Eugenia Eagles was the second of six children born to Edward, of German and French Huguenot descent, and his wife Julia Eagles (née Sullivan), who was of Irish descent. Her birth year – depending on the source – is given as 1888, 1890 (official bio year), 1891, 1892, 1893 (death certificate), or 1894. Jeanne, who later changed the spelling of her surname to "Eagels", would later claim that her father was a Spanish architect and she was born in Boston. In reality, she was born in Kansas City, Missouri and her father was a carpenter. Actress Mary Shipp was Eagels's niece.
Eagels attended St. Joseph's Catholic School and Morris Public School. She quit school shortly after her First Communion to work as a cash girl in a department store.
Eagels began her acting career at a young age in Kansas City, appearing in a variety of small venues. She left Kansas City around the age of 15 and toured the midwestern U.S. with the Dubinsky Brothers' traveling theater show as a dancer. She later played the leading lady in several comedies and dramas put on by the Dubinskys, who later founded AMC Theatres. As a teenager, she married Maurice Dubinsky, who frequently played a villain.
Around 1911, she moved to New York City and worked in chorus lines. Her hair was brown, but she bleached it when she went to New York. During this period, one of her acting coaches was Beverley Sitgreaves. She was in the supporting cast of Mind the Paint Girl at the Lyceum Theatre in September 1912. Eagels played opposite George Arliss in three plays in 1916 and 1917.
In 1915, she appeared in her first motion picture. She also made three films for Thanhouser Film Corporation in 1916–17. In 1918, she appeared in Daddies, a David Belasco production. She quit this show due to illness and subsequently traveled to Europe. She appeared in several other Broadway shows between 1919 and 1921.
In 1922, she had her first starring role, in the play Rain by John Colton and Clemence Randolph, based on a short story by Somerset Maugham. In this, her favorite role,[citation needed] Eagels played Sadie Thompson, a free-wheeling and promiscuous spirit who confronts a fire-and-brimstone preacher on a South Pacific island. She went on tour with Rain for two more seasons and returned to Broadway to give a farewell performance in 1926.
In 1926, Eagels was offered the part of Roxie Hart in Maurine Dallas Watkins's play Chicago, but she walked out during rehearsals. She next appeared in the comedy Her Cardboard Lover (1927) with Leslie Howard, touring for several months. After missing a few performances due to ptomaine poisoning, Eagels returned to the cast in July 1927 for an Empire Theater show.
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Jeanne Eagels
Jeanne Eagels (born Eugenia Eagles; June 26, 1890 – October 3, 1929) was an American stage and film actress. Eagels appeared in many Broadway productions, and in the emerging medium of sound films. She was posthumously nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her 1929 role in The Letter after dying suddenly that year at the age of 39.
Eugenia Eagles was the second of six children born to Edward, of German and French Huguenot descent, and his wife Julia Eagles (née Sullivan), who was of Irish descent. Her birth year – depending on the source – is given as 1888, 1890 (official bio year), 1891, 1892, 1893 (death certificate), or 1894. Jeanne, who later changed the spelling of her surname to "Eagels", would later claim that her father was a Spanish architect and she was born in Boston. In reality, she was born in Kansas City, Missouri and her father was a carpenter. Actress Mary Shipp was Eagels's niece.
Eagels attended St. Joseph's Catholic School and Morris Public School. She quit school shortly after her First Communion to work as a cash girl in a department store.
Eagels began her acting career at a young age in Kansas City, appearing in a variety of small venues. She left Kansas City around the age of 15 and toured the midwestern U.S. with the Dubinsky Brothers' traveling theater show as a dancer. She later played the leading lady in several comedies and dramas put on by the Dubinskys, who later founded AMC Theatres. As a teenager, she married Maurice Dubinsky, who frequently played a villain.
Around 1911, she moved to New York City and worked in chorus lines. Her hair was brown, but she bleached it when she went to New York. During this period, one of her acting coaches was Beverley Sitgreaves. She was in the supporting cast of Mind the Paint Girl at the Lyceum Theatre in September 1912. Eagels played opposite George Arliss in three plays in 1916 and 1917.
In 1915, she appeared in her first motion picture. She also made three films for Thanhouser Film Corporation in 1916–17. In 1918, she appeared in Daddies, a David Belasco production. She quit this show due to illness and subsequently traveled to Europe. She appeared in several other Broadway shows between 1919 and 1921.
In 1922, she had her first starring role, in the play Rain by John Colton and Clemence Randolph, based on a short story by Somerset Maugham. In this, her favorite role,[citation needed] Eagels played Sadie Thompson, a free-wheeling and promiscuous spirit who confronts a fire-and-brimstone preacher on a South Pacific island. She went on tour with Rain for two more seasons and returned to Broadway to give a farewell performance in 1926.
In 1926, Eagels was offered the part of Roxie Hart in Maurine Dallas Watkins's play Chicago, but she walked out during rehearsals. She next appeared in the comedy Her Cardboard Lover (1927) with Leslie Howard, touring for several months. After missing a few performances due to ptomaine poisoning, Eagels returned to the cast in July 1927 for an Empire Theater show.