The Days We Danced: The Story of My Theatrical Family from Florenz Ziegfeld to Arthur Murray and Beyond
With Joseph and Charles Eaton As Told to J.R. Morris\ At age fourteen, Doris Eaton was the youngest performer in the Ziegfeld Follies, appearing with such legends as Eddie Cantor, Fanny Brice, Will Rogers, and Marilyn Miller. With two sisters and two brothers also appearing in the Follies in the years between 1918 and 1923, the Eatons became a well-known Broadway family.\ Beginning their careers in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore area, the "Seven Little Eatons" became seasoned performers,...
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Doris Eaton Travis attracted national attention when she danced on the stage of the newly restored New Amsterdam Theater in New York at the age of 94. She re-created a dance she had performed eighty years before, when she was the youngest girl in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1919. For the next two years, she was a principal dancer and appeared with the likes of Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor. Fanny Brice, Marilyn Miller, and her own sister Mary, who became a famous Ziegfeld star. With two sisters and two brothers appearing in the Follies in the years between 1918 and 1923, the Eatons became a well-known show business family, often referred to as "The Eatons of Broadway." Her brother Charlie, a popular child actor, played the Palace at the age of twelve and later originated the role of Andy Hardy on Broadway. Doris was the first Eaton to go to Hollywood, and in 1929 she introduced the song "Singin' in the Rain" in the Hollywood Music Box Revue. During the depression years, Doris left show business and in time became the owner of eighteen Arthur Murray dance studios in the state of Michigan, which she operated for thirty years. The Days We Danced tells of the remarkable successes and poignant sorrows of the Eaton family. The author unsparingly writes of the family's dark days, including professional failure, alcoholism, early death, and even a tragic murder. With memories that span almost a century, Travis recalls the state of the American theater during World War I, the "roaring twenties," the Great Depression -- as well as the legendary names of the famous celebrities with whom the Eatons worked and played. Accompanied by scores of unique period photographs, this memoir details the life of an extraordinary woman who has not yet stopped dancing.
Introduction7Prologue11Chapter 1Getting Started15Chapter 2From Pearl's Notebook34Chapter 3Searching for the Blue Bird37Chapter 4Broadway Goes to War55Chapter 5The Ziegfeld Years61Chapter 6The Glory Years90Chapter 7Pearl, Pearl, the Party Girl101Chapter 8"Our Mary"115Chapter 9Four on Broadway124Chapter 10Coast to Coast132Chapter 11Hard Times162Chapter 12The Magic Step178Chapter 13Dancing in Detroit200Chapter 14Paul208Chapter 15Mamie216Chapter 16No More Rainbows222Chapter 17Evelyn, the Magnificent Bitch228Chapter 18Another Rise and Fall240Chapter 19"Mourning into Dancing"253A Quiet Reflection268Eaton Family Show Business Chronology270Bibliography274Acknowledgments275Index276
