Mitzi Mayfair

Mitzi Mayfair
Mayfair (right) and Kay Francis on a USO tour in April 1943, photographed by Ann Rosener
Born
Juanita Emylyn Pique

June 6, 1914
Fulton, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedMay 30, 1976 (aged 61)
Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, dancer

Mitzi Mayfair (born Juanita Emylyn Pique; June 6, 1914[1][2][3] – May 30, 1976)[2] was an American dancer and stage and film actress.[4][5]

Life and career

Born in Fulton, Kentucky, she grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1936, she told a Harvard Crimson interviewer, "I guess I'm just a natural dancer".[6] She recalled performing professionally albeit underage at age 11 in a "Kids Act".[6] She was seen and hired by vaudevillian Gus Edwards and taken on tour;[3][6] at one stop, "child labor authorities hauled her ... off the stage".[4]

She continued to work in vaudeville and on stage. Mayfair was in at least four Broadway productions in the 1930s, including the Flo Ziegfeld's Follies in 1931 and Harry Akst's Calling All Stars in 1934.[7][6][8] She joined the cast of At Home Abroad when star Eleanor Powell, also discovered by Gus Edwards, had to leave the show.[6]

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "the manager of the Main Street Theater in Kansas City" did not like her name, and changed it to Mitzi Mayfair without her knowledge; when she first saw the name on the marquee, she thought she had been replaced.[4] However, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle had a different story, stating that Gus Edwards forgot her name and made one up.[9]

During World War II, Mayfair embarked on a USO tour of Europe and North Africa with Kay Francis, Carole Landis, Martha Raye and others. All four performers played themselves in the film recreation of the tour, Four Jills in a Jeep (1944). Mayfair appeared in a number of shorts, but this, Paramount on Parade (1930) and a brief cameo in Stage Door Canteen (1943) were her only feature film credits. The celebrated dancer Irene Castle considered having Mayfair – among others – play her in the film The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, but decided she was not a big enough star. As Fred Astaire was already cast as Vernon, the part went to Ginger Rogers.[10]

Personal life

Her first husband was Albert F. Hoffman, heir to a fortune from beverage-making. They married March 12, 1938 at Hoffman's brother's home in South Orange, New Jersey.[11] They were divorced in 1943. On April 7, 1944, she married Charles Henderson, "associate boss of the music department of the 20th Century-Fox Studio". It is unclear when this marriage ended.

On June 28, 1963, Mayfair married Fred S. Cook of Kitsap County, Washington.[5] She died in Pima, Arizona in May 1976 at age 61.[2]

References

  1. ^ June 6, 1914 given as date of birth in the Kentucky Birth Index under name Juanita E. Pique, ancestry.com; accessed September 6, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "Mitzi Mayfair profile". mar-ken.org. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  3. ^ a b Robbin Coons (December 7, 1943). "Hollywood Sights and Sounds" (PDF). Niagara Falls Gazette.
  4. ^ a b c "Minute Biographies: Mitzi Mayfair". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 28, 1933.
  5. ^ a b "Mitzi Mayfair To Wed". Deseret News. April 7, 1944.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Mitzi Mayfair, Bert Lahr Disregard Student Poll, Support Parietal Ruling". The Harvard Crimson. May 23, 1936.
  7. ^ Eugene Burr (December 22, 1934). "Legitimate: HOLLYWOOD, Calling All Stars". Billboard. Vol. 46, no. 51. p. 18.
  8. ^ Mitzi Mayfair at the Internet Broadway Database
  9. ^ "Along the Primrose Path". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 17, 1937 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Golden, Eve (2007). Vernon and Irene Castle's Ragtime Revolution. University Press of Kentucky. p. 242. ISBN 9780813172699. Retrieved September 17, 2013. mitzi mayfair dancer.
  11. ^ "Beverage Magnate Hoffman Weds Dancer Mitzi Mayfair". The Philadelphia Inquirer. March 14, 1938. p. 3. Retrieved January 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.