Vera Doria

Vera Doria
Born
Veronica Fosbery Eyton

20 March 1882
Tasmania, Australia
Died22 June 1957 (aged 65)
Los Angeles, California, USA
Occupation(s)Actress, opera singer
Spouse(s)Juan de la Cruz (m. 1908–??)
John Snodgrass (m. 1921–??)
Harold Wavell (m. 1924–1932)
RelativesAlice Eyton (sister)
Charles Eyton (brother)

Vera Doria (born Veronica Eyton) was an Australian actress and opera singer active in Hollywood during the silent era.[1][2]

Biography

One of five children, Eyton was born in Tasmania, Australia,[3] to New Zealanders journalist Robert Henry Eyton (–1885) and Eleanor Maud Eyton (née Fosbery).[4]

She began singing opera in her native Australia as a young woman and toured Europe in the early 1910s.[5] In December 1899, a Sydney's Masonic Lodge, she gave a pleasing rendition of the 'Convent' aria from Daughter of the Regiment.[6] In a complimentary concert in March 1901 at Sydney's Centenary Hall, before departing for London, she gave two selections, 'O, Divine Redeemer' and from Rossini's Semiramide, 'Bel Raggio'.[7] In March 1902 she was playing Princess Ivy of 'The invisible prince' at the Edinburgh Theatre Royal.[8] By early 1903 she was involved in London pantomimes.[9]

By December 1903 Eyton was noted, as Vera Nightingale, as party to a successful divorce petition on the grounds of adultery by Lillian Sophia Mackenzie-Fairfax against her husband John Mackenzie Fairfax. That couple had married in June 1898, but alleged the husband met Eyton in Sydney in January 1902 before all three persons returned to London.[10]

Eventually followed her older siblings, Alice Eyton (a screenwriter) and Charles Eyton (a film producer) to Los Angeles in 1915 seeking a career as an actress.[5][11] At the time, she was married to fellow opera singer Juan de la Cruz.[12][13]

She appears to have retired from acting in the late 1910s to focus on her singing career.[14] She eventually moved to Shanghai, where she met and married her second and third husbands, John Snodgrass and Harold Wavell.[15][16] after she returned, she became a children's author.

She died on 22 June 1957.

Selected filmography

References

  1. ^ "Musical Offering by Artists". Los Angeles Evening Express. 16 November 1912. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  2. ^ The Playgoer. Dawbarn & Ward. 1901.
  3. ^ "Advertising". The Mercury. Vol. XL, no. 3786. Tasmania, Australia. 28 March 1882. p. 1 (The Mercury Supplement ). Retrieved 24 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Death of a Journalist". Tasmanian News. Vol. II, no. 591. Tasmania, Australia. 15 October 1885. p. 3. Retrieved 20 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ a b "Vera Doria". The Lima News. 27 June 1915. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Mr. Louis Grist's concert". The Australian Star. No. 3694. New South Wales, Australia. 15 December 1899. p. 2. Retrieved 24 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "Miss Vera EYTON'S concert". The Evening News (Sydney). No. 10, 540. New South Wales, Australia. 21 March 1901. p. 2. Retrieved 24 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "Dramatic notes". Evening Journal. Vol. XXXIV, no. 9740. South Australia. 22 March 1902. p. 7. Retrieved 24 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "Stageland". The Evening News (Sydney). No. 11, 138. New South Wales, Australia. 21 February 1903. p. 3 (Evening News Supplement). Retrieved 24 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "An actress's antics". Sunday Times (Perth). No. 310. Western Australia. 13 December 1903. p. 12. Retrieved 24 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Soprano Is Lured Into the Movies". The Sunday Telegram. 27 June 1915. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  12. ^ "Club Does Honor to Opera Stars". Los Angeles Evening Express. 3 October 1912. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  13. ^ "Ex-Wife Left Fund by Eyton". The Los Angeles Times. 9 July 1941. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Vera Doria's N.Y. Engagement". The Los Angeles Times. 31 August 1913. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  15. ^ "Sugar and Spice". The Los Angeles Times. 8 October 1933. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  16. ^ "Beautiful Russian is Co-Respondent". Arizona Daily Star. 24 August 1933. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  17. ^ Motography. 1916.