Mitzi Mayfair (born Juanita Emylyn Pique; June 6, 1914 – May 30, 1976) was an American dancer and stage and film actress.
Life and career
Born in
Fulton, Kentucky
Fulton is a home rule-class city in Fulton County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,357 at the 2020 census, down from 2,445 at the 2010 census. It was once known as the "Banana Capital of the World", because 70% of imported ban ...
, she grew up in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
. In 1936, she told a ''
Harvard Crimson
The Harvard Crimson is the nickname of the college sports teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate Varsity team, varsity sports teams for women and men at Harva ...
'' interviewer, "I guess I'm just a natural dancer". She recalled performing professionally albeit underage at age 11 in a "Kids Act". She was seen and hired by
vaudevillian
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatre, theatrical genre of variety show, variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comic ...
Gus Edwards and taken on tour; at one stop, "child labor authorities hauled her ... off the stage".
She continued to work in vaudeville and on stage. Mayfair was in at least four Broadway productions in the 1930s, including the
Flo Ziegfeld
Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. (; March 21, 1867 – July 22, 1932) was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1907–1931), inspired by the ''Folies Bergère'' of Paris. He also p ...
's ''
Follies
''Follies'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman.
The plot centers on a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the ''Ziegfeld Follies ...
'' in 1931 and
Harry Akst
Harry Akst (August 15, 1894 – March 31, 1963) - accessed November 19, 2011 was an American
Eleanor Powell
Eleanor Torrey Powell (November 21, 1912 – February 11, 1982) was an American dancer and actress. Best remembered for her tap dance numbers in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s, she was one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's top dancing stars durin ...
, also discovered by Gus Edwards, had to leave the show.
According to the ''
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...
'', "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. However, the ''
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''Kings County Democrat'', later ''The Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' before shortening title further to ''Brooklyn Eagle'') was an afternoon daily newspaper published in the city ...
'' had a different story, stating that Gus Edwards forgot her name and made one up.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Mayfair embarked on a
USO
The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...
tour of Europe and North Africa with
Kay Francis
Kay Francis (born Katharine Edwina Gibbs; January 13, 1905 – August 26, 1968) was an American stage and film actress. After a brief period on Broadway in the late 1920s, she moved to film and achieved her greatest success between 1930 an ...
,
Carole Landis
Carole Landis (born Frances Lillian Mary Ridste; January 1, 1919 – July 5, 1948) was an American actress and singer. She worked as a contract player for Twentieth Century-Fox in the 1940s. Her breakout role was as the female lead in the 1940 ...
,
Martha Raye
Martha Raye (born Margy Reed; August 27, 1916 – October 19, 1994), nicknamed The Big Mouth, was an American comic actress and singer who performed in movies, and later on television. She also acted in plays, including on Broadway.
She was hono ...
and others. All four performers played themselves in the film recreation of the tour, ''
Four Jills in a Jeep
''Four Jills in a Jeep'' is a 1944 American comedy-drama musical film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Kay Francis, Carole Landis, Martha Raye, and Mitzi Mayfair as themselves, reenacting their USO tour of Europe and North Africa durin ...
'' (1944). Mayfair appeared in a number of shorts, but this, ''
Paramount on Parade
''Paramount on Parade'' is a 1930 all-star American pre-Code revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Lothar Mendes, Ott ...
'' (1930) and a brief cameo in Stage Door Canteen (1943) were her only feature film credits. The celebrated dancer
Irene Castle
Vernon and Irene Castle were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers and dance teachers who appeared on Broadway and in silent films in the early 20th century. They are credited with reviving the popularity of modern dancing. Castle was a s ...
considered having Mayfair – among others – play her in the film ''
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
''The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle'' is a 1939 American biographical musical comedy film directed by H.C. Potter. The film stars Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edna May Oliver, and Walter Brennan. The film is based on the stories ''My Husband' ...
'', but decided she was not a big enough star. As
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz, May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "g ...
was already cast as Vernon, the part went to
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...
.
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. 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
Kitsap County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 275,611. Its county seat is Port Orchard; its largest city is Bremerton. The county, formed out of King County and Jefferson County on Ja ...
. She died in
Pima, Arizona
Pima is a town in Graham County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 2,387, up from 1,989 in 2000. The estimated population in 2018 was 2,512. Pima is part of the Safford Micropolitan Statistical Are ...