DORIS EATON TRAVIS, The last known surviving principal Follies dancer died on May 11, 2010. Only two months earlier, March 14th, over 100 friends, relatives and guests had joined Doris in celebration of her 106th birthday in West Bloomfield, Michigan. After forty years of residency in Norman, Oklahoma, Doris sold her 800 acre quarter-horse ranch and relocated to Michigan. Her next door neighbor was nephew Joseph Eaton, Jr. Another nephew, Michael Scadron, grandson of Pearl Eaton, lives in close proximity. It was Pearl, Doris's oldest sister, was primarily responsible for Doris's 1918 entry into the Follies. On April 27/28 Doris made her last appearance in the Broadway Cares Easter Bonnet competition at the Minskoff Theatre in New York City. She had previously appeared and danced in ten successive Easter Bonnet benefits. One of her favorite dance numbers, often repeated by popular demand, was "Balling The Jack" first introduced by Ziegfeld star, Lillian Lorraine in 1913.
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PATRICIA 'PATTY' ZIEGFELD STEPHENSON
April 2009 marks the one year anniversary of Patricia Stephenson's death in Burbank, California. Patricia was the only child of famed Broadway producer, Florenz Ziegfeld and his equally famous wife, stage and screen actress, Billie Burke - perhaps best known as Glinda, the witch of the north in MGM's "Wizard of Oz.! Patricia's husband, William Stephenson, a well known architect for Hollywood celebrity homes, preceded Patricia's death by six months.
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NEW 2010 BOOK RELEASE;
"The Last Leaf" by Stuart Lutz, Prometheus Books, 2010
A stunning compilation of interviews by the author of history's last known survivors. At a Barnes & Noble author's book signing in New York City on April 29th, 2010, Doris Eaton Travis gave her last public interview to author Lutz. She died less than two weeks later.
....................................................................................................................................................................................................... NEW 2009 BOOK RELEASE;
Advance praise for:
"ZIEGFELD" The Man Who Invented Show Business
St. Martin's Press - 2009
by Ethan Morden

"A rich and enteraining biography Broadway's first auteur. Ever the witty and erudite raconteur, Morden's... descriptions are enlivening, his profiles sharp, his tone casual and elegant, as diverse and diverting as a night at the Follies."

"With a flowing style that combines factoids of historical events with historical commentary, personal anecdotes of the players, and his own insight Morden creates ostensibly an insider's view...Highly recommended.
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NEW 2009 BOOK RELEASE;
Mrs. Ziegfeld: The Public and Private Lives of Billie Burke
McFarland - 2009
by Grant Hayter-Menzies

Broadway actress Billie Burke was one of the most sought after young stage beauties of her time, stealing the hearts of Enrico Caruso, Mark Twain, and, most importantly, famed Broadway producer Florenz Ziegfeld, who became her husband. Following Ziegfeld’s death, the threats of financial ruin and encroaching age forced Burke to recreate herself as a Hollywood character actress.

This biography benefits from the cooperation of the daughter and grandchildren of Burke and Ziegfeld, as well as from anecdotes provided by actors who performed with Burke on the stage and screen. In addition to studying the character and significance of Burke’s greatest screen role in Glinda the Good Witch of the North, this richly illustrated book also provides a complete history of Burke’s stage, screen, and radio work.

About the Author
Biographer Grant Hayter-Menzies lives in Sidney, British Columbia. His works include biographies of Charlotte Greenwood and Princess Der Ling.

Click on image to view larger version.

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JAZZ AGE BEAUTIES - by Robert Hudovernik
Forgotten for over 80 years, the lost collection of Alfred Cheney Johnston's photographs is now brought to light again in the 2006 release by Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.

In 1917, Florenz Ziegfeld hired an unknown "camera artist" named Alfred Cheney Johnston to be his official photographer. Johnston, who had a remarkable talent for capturing feminine beauty on film, created thousands of magnificent publicity stills of Ziegfeld Girls and silent film stars during "the Jazz Age."



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CENTURY GIRL
100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies
by Lauren Redniss

"One of the most captivating darlings of the Twentieth Century, as rendered by one of the freshest young phenoms of the Twenty-first. Will Rogers, George Gershwin, Babe Ruth, John Wayne, and countless others, go flitting through flapper Doris Eaton's marvelously beguiling story, but time and again, it's Lauren Redniss's line and composition that capture and hold us, lingering, utterly entranced. This book is the opposite of a page-turner: it's a page-stopper, a page-savorer, in short: an unmitigated delight." -Lawrence Weschler, author of Mr Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder and Everything that Rises: A Book of Convergences. Century Girl from Amazon.com. Click on image to view larger version.