Doris Eaton Travis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Doris Eaton Travis
Doris Eaton Travis in 1922
Born	Doris Eaton (1904-03-14)March 14, 1904 Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.
Died	May 11, 2010(2010-05-11) (aged 106) Commerce, Michigan, U.S.
Resting place	Guardian Angel Cemetery, Rochester, Michigan
Other names	Doris Levant Lucille Levant
Alma mater	University of Oklahoma
Occupation	Actress dancer dancer instructor dance school owner and manager writer rancher
Years active	1909–2010
Spouse(s)	Joe Gorham ​ ​ (m. 1923; died 1923)​ Paul Travis ​ ​ (m. 1949; died 2000)​
Relatives	Mary Eaton (sister) Pearl Eaton (sister) Charles Eaton (brother)

Doris Eaton Travis (born March 14, 1904 – died May 11, 2010) was an amazing American performer. She was a dancer, actress, dance teacher, writer, and even a rancher! Doris was famous for being the very last surviving Ziegfeld Girl. These were a group of talented dancers and singers who performed in the famous Broadway shows called the Ziegfeld Follies.

Doris started performing on stage when she was very young. She and her brothers and sisters were known as "The Seven Little Eatons" because they all worked in show business. She first appeared on Broadway at age 13. Just one year later, she became the youngest person ever to join the Ziegfeld Follies. She continued to act in plays and silent movies throughout the 1920s and early 1930s.

When her acting career slowed down, Doris started a new path. She became a dance instructor for the Arthur Murray Studios. She even had her own TV show in Detroit! She worked with Arthur Murray for 30 years. During this time, she became successful enough to own and manage almost 20 dance schools. After retiring from dance, she managed a horse ranch with her husband. She also went back to school and earned several college degrees.

Doris Eaton Travis was featured in many books and documentaries. These told the story of her time in the Ziegfeld Follies and her other stage work. She even returned to the stage herself for special charity shows. She passed away in 2010 at the age of 106, just one month after her last performance.

Early Life and First Steps on Stage

Doris Eaton Travis in her youth

Doris was one of seven children born to Mary and Charles H. Eaton in Norfolk, Virginia. Her family raised her as a Christian Scientist, and she followed this faith her whole life. When she was four years old, Doris started taking dance lessons in Washington, D.C.. Her older sisters, Mary and Pearl Eaton, also took lessons.

In 1911, all three sisters got roles in a play called The Blue Bird. It was performed at the Belasco Theatre in Washington, D.C. Doris had a small part as a sleeping child. But this was the very beginning of her long career in professional theater.

A Career on Stage and Screen

Early Theatre Work

After The Blue Bird, the three Eaton sisters and their younger brother Joe started acting in different plays. They worked for the Poli Stock Company in 1912. They quickly became known as professional and reliable actors. This meant they almost always had work.

In 1915, Doris and her sisters appeared in a new version of The Blue Bird. Doris and Mary were given the main roles. The children were then asked to perform these roles in New York and on a tour. When that show ended, Doris and her brother Charles (who also became an actor) went back to work with Poli. They appeared together in their first Broadway show, Mother Carey's Chickens. The whole Eaton family then moved to New York City. This allowed the children to continue their careers in various stage shows.

Joining the Ziegfeld Follies

By 1918, Doris's sister Pearl Eaton was a dancer and assistant director for the Ziegfeld Follies. The Follies were big, fancy musical shows on Broadway in New York City. They ran from 1907 to 1931. These shows were created by Florenz Ziegfeld and were inspired by the famous Folies Bergère in Paris.

One day, Doris went with Pearl to a rehearsal. The dance supervisor, Ned Wayburn, saw Doris and immediately hired her! She got a role in the summer touring company of the 1918 Follies.

The day she finished eighth grade, Doris started rehearsing to become a Ziegfeld Girl. To get around rules about child performers, she used different stage names like "Doris Levant" and "Lucille Levant." As soon as she turned 16, she started using her real name again. Her dance supervisor knew her real age. He made sure her mother traveled with her on the Follies tour as a paid member of the company.

Doris worked with Ziegfeld for several years. She appeared in the 1918, 1919, and 1920 Ziegfeld Follies shows. She was also in the 1919 Midnight Frolics. She was even the understudy for the star, Marilyn Miller. Many of the Eaton siblings found success in the Follies. By 1922, Mary, Pearl, Doris, Joe, and Charles had all performed in different editions of the show. Doris's last performance with the Follies was in 1920.

Silent Films and New Songs

Doris made her first movie at age 17 in 1921. It was a romantic drama called At the Stage Door. Her career grew in the 1920s and early 1930s. She appeared in several silent films, including Tell Your Children. She also performed in five different Broadway shows. She danced in the Hollywood Music Box Revue and the Gorham Follies in Los Angeles.

While in the Hollywood Music Box Revue, Doris introduced two important songs. Both were written by Nacio Herb Brown. These songs were "Singin' in the Rain" and "The Doll Dance." Doris wrote the words for "The Doll Dance" but did not get credit for it. In 1929, she also appeared in the movie The Very Idea. When she was 18, she married Joe Gorham, who produced the Gorham Follies. Their marriage lasted only six months because Joe passed away suddenly.

Dance Instructor and Rancher

Doris performed in her last Broadway show, Merrily We Roll Along, in 1935. Her career, and those of her siblings, became less active in the 1930s. She returned to acting in local plays and tried performing in vaudeville with her brother Charles for a short time.

In 1936, she was hired by the Arthur Murray Dance Studios in New York. She started as a tap dance instructor. She stayed with Arthur Murray for 32 years! She moved up from teaching to owning her own dance school. Eventually, she owned a total of 18 Arthur Murray studios across Michigan. She also wrote a dance advice column for the Detroit News called "On Your Toes." For seven years, she hosted a local television show.

One of her dance students, an inventor named Paul Travis, became her husband. They got married on March 19, 1949. Their marriage lasted over 50 years, until Paul's death in 2000. They did not have children. After retiring from the dance studio business in 1968, Doris and Paul moved to Norman, Oklahoma. There, they started a horse ranch. The ranch grew from 220 acres to 880 acres. Many of the horses they raised on the ranch became successful racehorses. Doris managed the ranch until 2008.

Later Years and Legacy

Doris Eaton Travis in April 2010, a month before her death, aged 106

In 1992, at the age of 88, Doris graduated with high honors from the University of Oklahoma. She was given an honorary doctorate degree from Oakland University in 2004, when she was 100 years old.

In 1997, Doris and four other former Ziegfeld Girls reunited for the reopening of the New Amsterdam Theatre. She later remembered that she was the only one who could still dance! The next year, Doris returned to Broadway and the New Amsterdam Theatre. This was the same place she had first performed 80 years earlier! She took part in the Easter Bonnet Competition, a show that raises money for charity. She became a favorite and a "lucky charm" for the show. She continued to appear almost every year, often performing her old dances to cheers from the audience.

In 1999, she appeared in a movie for the first time in 70 years! She had a small role in Man on the Moon with Jim Carrey. In 2001, she became the last surviving Ziegfeld Girl after Nona Otero Friedman passed away. Doris appeared in many documentaries and interviews about the Ziegfeld Follies and her life. She also wrote a book about her life and family called The Days We Danced in 2003. In 2006, a book about her life with photo collages was published. It was called Century Girl: 100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies.

In January 2008, Doris was the Grand Marshal for the opening parade of the Art Deco Weekend festival in Miami Beach. Her last public dance performance was at the Easter Bonnet show on April 27, 2010. Her very last public appearance was an interview at a bookstore two days later.

Death

On May 11, 2010, Doris Eaton Travis passed away in Commerce, Michigan, at the age of 106. The next day, the lights of Broadway were dimmed in her honor. She is buried in the Guardian Angel Cemetery in Rochester, Michigan.

Filmography

See also

In Spanish: Doris Eaton Travis para niños