Biography

Mary Eaton

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Born in January, 1901, Mary Eaton was one of 'The Seven Little Eatons' famous in the '20s and '30s. In fact, she received the greatest fame of her fellow performing brothers Joseph Eaton and Charles Eaton and sisters Pearl Eaton and Doris Eaton. Sister Evelyn was a stage manager and brother Robert was never lured into the business. The star of both the 1920 and 1922 editions of the Ziegfeld Follies, blond Mary was Florenz Ziegfeld's backup in case his biggest star, Marilyn Miller, proved too recalcitrant. Eaton later replaced Miller as Eddie Cantor's leading lady in the phenomenally successful Broadway hit_Kid Boots (1923)_ and again in 1927 in Sunny. But Mary was a natural for talking picture stardom and was teamed with an aging Broadway juvenile, Oscar Shaw, in the Marx Brothers_The Cocoanuts (1929)_. She followed that up in the lead role of the all star cast_Glorifying the American Girl (1929)_. However, fame fades quickly and the Eaton family found themselves unwanted by the end of the '30s, on stage and on film. Mary, Pearl and Charles turned to alcohol. Mary married three alcoholics and died young of severe cirrhosis of the liver in 1948 aged 47. Pearl was murdered in her Manhatten Beach apartment in 1958 aged 60. The crime has never been solved. Charles died in 2004, aged 94. Doris died in 2010, aged 106.
- IMDb mini biography by: christopherbkk

Mary fell victim to alcohol as her promising film career began to fade in the mid-1930s.
Sister of Pearl Eaton, Doris Eaton and Charles Eaton, Joseph Eaton, Evelyn Eaton and Robert Eaton.
Mary tried to give up drinking many times but she always relapsed. In 1944 she married actor Eddie Laughton. They moved into a modest home on Fuller Avenue in Los Angeles. Tragically on October 10, 1948 she died from cardiac failure caused by her chronic alcoholism.
Although many sources say she died from cirrhosis of the liver her death certificate states that she actually died from cardiac failure due to her chronic alcoholism. She had been addicted to alcohol for many years.
Stage actress.

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