# In Which Eve Lunches with a Ziegfeld Girl! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 31, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-eve-lunches-with-a-ziegfeld-girl/165482 "2003-03-31T17:03:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-eve-lunches-with-a-ziegfeld-girl/165482/1 "2003-03-31T17:03:46Z")
I was part of a theater roundtable last week, and one of the participants was 99-year-old Doris Eaton, who has considerably more energy than I do. She appeared in the _Ziegfeld Follies_ from 1918–21, understudied Marilyn Miller in _Sunny_; danced with Fred Astaire in _The Band Wagon_ (1931) and made nine films between 1921–33 (as well as _Man in the Moon_, a few years ago). _And_, she earned a college degree in her 80s! She’s one of the half-dozen or so Ziegfeld Girls left, and it was Very Cool to meet her. [Here’s](http://ibs.theatermania.com/news/feature/index.cfm?story=2098&cid=1) a recent photo of her in performance, and [here’s](http://silent-movies.com/Ladies/annex/SLAnnex40.html) one of her in the 1920s. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-eve-lunches-with-a-ziegfeld-girl/165482/2 "2003-03-31T17:36:50Z")
What a wonderful treat for you, Eve! I know you enjoyed it tremendously. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-eve-lunches-with-a-ziegfeld-girl/165482/3 "2003-03-31T19:11:41Z")
That is quite an accomplished woman, Eve. How lucky that you get such a rare treat to meet such a person. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-eve-lunches-with-a-ziegfeld-girl/165482/4 "2003-03-31T21:23:35Z")
I certainly hope you got many good stories out of the experience, which I certainly hope you will share one day. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-eve-lunches-with-a-ziegfeld-girl/165482/5 "2003-04-01T00:07:04Z")
I am very jealous of you Eve. It sounds like an interview of a lifetime. Imagine, in addition to the ones you mentioned, she was in the wings with, or onstage with the likes of Bill Robinson, Will Rogers, Fanny Brice, Ed Wynn W.C. Fields and Mae Murry. She probably rubbed elbows with the likes of Jolson, Canter, Gershwin and Berlin. As I said, I am jealous. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-eve-lunches-with-a-ziegfeld-girl/165482/6 "2003-04-01T01:39:13Z")
That’s astonishing, Eve. I, like the others, are both happy and jealous. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-eve-lunches-with-a-ziegfeld-girl/165482/7 "2003-04-01T02:01:09Z")
I didn’t actually interview her, we just had a social lunch–but she did tell stories of working with Fanny Brice and Marilyn Miller (both very nice, she said), dancing with Astaire (a terrible perfectionist), and working with Eddie Cantor (also a nice fellow). She also said what a magical world 42nd Street and Times Square were in the 1910s and '20s–“so safe, and glamorous, teeming with beautifully dressed people, bright lights, those lovely theaters that are gone now.” Of course, _she_ was young then, too, which I’m sure has something to do with it. When a performer got up and sang _A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody_, you should have _seen_ the look on her face, as she thought back–I wish I could have gotten into her head just then.