Eva Puck

Eva Puck
Gladys Miller, Bobbie Watson and Eva Puck in Irene (Munsey's Magazine, July 1920)
Born	(1892-11-27)November 27, 1892 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	October 24, 1979(1979-10-24) (aged 86) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Stage, film actress
Spouse(s)	Sammy White

Eva Puck (November 25, 1892 – October 25, 1979) was an American entertainer, a vaudeville headliner who later found success performing in Broadway musical comedies and film.

She was born in New York City, the middle of three children raised by Abraham and Lena (née Salmon) Puck. There is some question about the family surname being Puck or Salmon, both were used in early press articles. Little is known of her mother who came to America from Poland in 1874 or her English father who immigrated in 1882. They married in 1887 and by 1899 had Eva and her older brother Harry performing in a vaudeville song and dance act known as the Two Little Pucks.

On May 10, 1903, police raided the Trocadero Music Hall in Manhattan’s Fort George district where the Puck children were performing as headliners and arrested their parents and the theater manager, Freeman Bernstein. They were charged with a violation of Section 289 of the Penal Code in unlawfully consenting to the employment, and in the employment, of minors in a theatrical exhibition. The investigators were concerned over the hours that Eva and her brother were keeping and also found the Trocadero an unsuitable environment for children with patrons smoking and consuming alcohol. The three were later brought to trial in the Court of Special Sessions, and found guilty. The judge, in passing sentence said, in part:

"We cannot resist the conviction that these parents have been living largely upon the earnings of these children, which amount from $125 to $150 per month. Now, this sort of business cannot be continued or permitted, and if these defendants come before this Court again the punishment will be more drastic.”

Her father was fined $100, or thirty days jail time; and her mother $25, or fifteen days in the City Prison. Bernstein was fined $50.

For the next few years the Two Little Pucks continued to perform at venues outside New York and later, as they entered their teens, toured as Eva and Harry Puck until disbanding sometime around 1918. Harry went on to be a successful choreographer, composer, songwriter and music publisher while Eva remained in vaudeville soon teaming up with her future husband, song and dance comedian Sammy White (1894-1960).

Their younger brother, Laurence "Larry" Puck, became a radio and television producer and general manager of Unicorn Productions Inc., a subsidiary of CBS. He later married Mable Withee, a singer and dancer active on Broadway over the 1920s.