Throwback Thursday and Pearl Eaton
Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Pearl Eaton,
and her two sisters Doris and Mary, began their dance training in Washington
D.C. In 1911, all of them were hired for the play The Blue Bird, and thus Pearl’s career began.
Pearl’s dancing in The Blue Bird impress the Shubert Brothers who hired her to dance
in the chorus of Al Jolson’s show, Robinson
Crusoe, Jr. She went on to perform in many venues, and in 1918 became part
of the Ziegfeld Follies where she
stayed until 1923. Pearl Eaton was reputed to have the most beautiful legs in
America, and supposedly whenever Ziegfeld saw her he said “How are the legs?”
After the Follies, she worked with producer Charles Dillingham, both as a performer
and as dance director. By the late 1920s, Pearl Easton was in Los Angeles
working for RKO Studios, choreographing dances for films like Hit the Deck and Rio Rita. Sadly, during the Depression in 1930s she was let go by
RKO.
She went on to try other careers, such
as real estate, song writing, and working for the Los Angeles County Census
Bureau. She also opened her own dance studio. Later in life she became a
recluse, seldom leaving her home.
On September 10, 1958 she was found dead
in her Manhattan Beach apartment. The police ruled her death a homicide but the
case has never been solved. Pearl Eaton was 60 years old.
From the Big
Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Dance History Factoid #124:
“Pearl Eaton was a dancer
whose mysterious death has never been solved.”
Link of the Day (featuring Pearl’s sister Mary):
Quote of the Day:
“Every
solution to every problem is simple. It's the distance between the two where
the mystery lies.”
― Derek Landy
― Derek Landy
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