Jeanne Eagels

Jeanne Eagels (39)

1890-06-26 - 1929-10-03 |

Born into a poor family in Kansas, Eagles ran off to join a traveling theatrical company at age 12, landed in New York, remade herself, became a chorine and a Ziegfeld Girl, studied acting and became a sought after theatrical name. As her heavy schedule – which soon included silent films – began to weigh on her, she self-medicated with pills, alcohol and possibly harder stuff. Soon, after dozens of successful roles, she became a Broadway super-star playing Sadie Thompson in Somerset Maugham’s “Rain.” As her fame increased, so did her reputation for temperamental behavior and even unreliability. She died on the night of October 3, 1929, aged 39. Her death was variously attributed to alcohol, sleeping pills and heroin.

On Movies

  • Jealousy
  • The Letter
  • Man, Woman and Sin
  • The Madonna of the Slums
  • The Cross Bearer
  • Under False Colors
  • The Fires of Youth
  • The World and the Woman
  • The House of Fear
  • A Lesson in Bridge
  • The Bride of the Sea
  • The Ace of Hearts

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