Mary Eugenia Rawls (September 11, 1913 — November 8, 2000) was an American actress.

Biography

Rawls was born in Macon, Georgia, and lived with her grandmother and two aunts for most of her early life. She made her stage debut at age 4 in a local production of ''

Madame Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lut ...

'' and later attended

Wesleyan College Wesleyan College is a private, liberal arts women's college in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1836, Wesleyan was the first college in the world chartered to grant degrees to women. History The school was chartered on December 23, 1836, as the Ge ...

in Macon. She moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and made her Broadway debut in 1934 as Peggy Rogers in

Lillian Hellman Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway, as well as her communist sympathies and political activism. She was blacklisted aft ...

's '' The Children's Hour''. Her best-known role came in 1939 as

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's '' L ...

's character Regina Gidden's daughter, Alexandra, in ''

The Little Foxes ''The Little Foxes'' is a 1939 play by Lillian Hellman, considered a classic of 20th century drama. Its title comes from Chapter 2, Verse 15 of the Song of Solomon in the King James version of the Bible, which reads, "Take us the foxes, the lit ...

''. She replaced the original actress on Broadway, and performed with Bankhead, who would become her lifelong mentor, when the show toured the US. She performed in several Broadway plays through 1956,Eugenia Rawls
at the Internet Broadway Database. and appeared in many New York-based television shows in the 1950s and 1960s, including a recurring role on ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other s ...

'' and portraying Margaret on the ABC serial ''Road to Reality'' (1960). She created several one-woman shows, which she played in regional theaters,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

, and the

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

. Her book ''Tallulah, A Memory'' was a memoir of her friend's outrageous life. Rawls also wrote and performed in ''Women of The West'' and ''Affectionally Yours,

Fanny Kemble Frances Anne "Fanny" Kemble (27 November 180915 January 1893) was a British actress from a theatre family in the early and mid-19th century. She was a well-known and popular writer and abolitionist, whose published works included plays, poetry ...

''. After nearly two decades, she returned to Broadway for one more production, playing Aunt Nonnie in a December 1975 to February 1976 revival of

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thr ...

Sweet Bird of Youth ''Sweet Bird of Youth'' is a 1959 play by Tennessee Williams which tells the story of a gigolo and drifter, Chance Wayne, who returns to his home town as the companion of a faded movie star, Alexandra del Lago (travelling incognito as Princess ...

''. She died November 8, 2000, in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, aged 87.

Personal life

Rawls married

Donald Seawell Donald Ray Seawell (August 1, 1912 – September 30, 2015) was an American cultural and civic leader, born in Jonesboro, North Carolina. He was the founder of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

, an attorney and the founder and chairman of the

Denver Center for the Performing Arts The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is an organization in Denver, Colorado which provides a showcase for live theatre, a nurturing ground for new plays, a preferred stop on the Broadway touring circuit, acting classes for the communi ...

. Bankhead, the matron of honor at Rawls' wedding, was the godmother of their two children, one of whom, Brockman Seawell, became a stage, television and film producer

Bibliography

* ''Tallulah, a Memory'', University of Alabama Press, 1979. * ''A Moment Ago'', Denver Center for the Performing Arts Press, 1984.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rawls, Eugenia 1913 births 2000 deaths Actresses from Georgia (U.S. state) American soap opera actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Actors from Macon, Georgia Wesleyan College alumni 20th-century American actresses Seawell family