Jeanne Eagels
| Jeanne Eagels | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Eugenia Eagles June 26, 1890 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | October 3, 1929 (aged 39) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Drug overdose |
| Resting place | Calvary Cemetery |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | St. Joseph's Catholic School Morris Public School |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1913-1929 |
| Spouse(s) | Morris Dubinsky (m.?; div.?) Edward Harris "Ted" Coy (m. 1925; div. 1928) |
Jeanne Eagels (June 26, 1890 – October 3, 1929) was an American stage and film actress. A former Ziegfeld Girl, Eagels went on to greater fame on Broadway 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. That nomination was the first posthumous Oscar consideration for any actor, male or female.
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. 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. Edward Eagles died in February 1910.
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 in Kansas City, appearing in a variety of small venues at a very young age. She left Kansas City around the age of 15 and toured the Midwest with the Dubinsky Brothers' traveling theater show. At first, she was a dancer, but in time she went on to play the leading lady in several comedies and dramas put on by the Dubinskys. As a teenager, she married Morris Dubinsky, who frequently played villain roles.
Around 1911, she moved to New York City, working in chorus lines and eventually becoming a Ziegfeld Girl. 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. Eagels was in the supporting cast of Mind The Paint Girl at the Lyceum Theatre in September 1912. Eagels played opposite George Arliss in three successive plays in 1916 and 1917.
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