About Me
I am an actress on Broadway and in several motion pictures. A former Ziegfeld Follies Girl who went on to greater fame on Broadway and in the emerging medium of "talkies" (films with sound), I was posthumously nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her 1929 role in The Letter after dying suddenly that year at the age of 39.I was born Amelia Jeannine Eagles in Kansas City, Missouri to a Roman Catholic family. It was in Kansas City that I began her acting career, appearing in a variety of small venues at a very young age. My ambitions were such that I left Kansas City around the age of 12 and toured the Midwest with the Dubinsky Brothers' traveling theater show. At first I was a dancer, but in time I went on to play the leading lady in several popular comedies and dramas put on by the Dubinskys. Around 1911, I came to New York City to advance my acting career. Because of the stiff competition for parts, once again I had to work my way up from the chorus. Even in the chorus line I excelled. Eventually I became a Ziegfeld Follies Girl. During this period, one of my acting coaches was Beverly Sitgreaves, who had once shared the stage with the great French actress Sarah Bernhardt.I changed the spelling of my surname to "Eagels", because this spelling looked better in lights. Although I struggled for recognition as a dramatic actress, her beauty, talent and luck led to my getting bigger parts in better shows. My stage career blossomed, and in 1915 she appeared in her first motion picture. In 1916 and 1917 I made three films for Thanhouser Film Corporation.Eventually I won recognition and kudos playing opposite the stage actor George Arliss in three successive plays. In 1918 I appeared in Daddies, a David Belasco production, and won even more notice. I quit this show due to illness (probably sinusitis) and I subsequently travelled to Europe. I appeared in several other Broadway shows between 1919 and 1921, but in 1922 I made my first appearance as a star in the bona fide hit, the play Rain by John Colton, in turn based on a short story by W. Somerset Maugham. Eagels played the character of Sadie Thompson, a free-wheeling and free-loving spirit who confronts a fire-and-brimstone preacher on a South Pacific island, which role would be played on film by Gloria Swanson (1928) and Joan Crawford (1932). Critics raved about my tense, smoldering, and vivid performance. The house was packed nearly every night for two years. I went on tour with Rain for two more seasons, and returned to Broadway to give a farewell performance in 1926.During this period I married Edward Harris "Ted" Coy, a former Yale University football star, in 1925. Our marriage was rocky and they divorced in 1928. We had no children together.In 1926 I was offered the part of "Roxie Hart" in the (nonmusical) play Chicago, which was written by Maurine Dallas Watkins, but I walked out of this role during rehearsals, possibly due to conflicts with the director. After much speculation about her next play, I chose a comedy, Her Cardboard Lover (1927), in which I appeared on stage with Leslie Howard. This play was a modest success, and after a season on Broadway, I took a break to make a movie. I appeared opposite John Gilbert in the MGM film Man, Woman and Sin, which was directed by Monta Bell. I then went on tour with Her Cardboard Lover for several months. In 1928, after failing to appear for a performance in Milwaukee, I was banned by Actors Equity from appearing on stage for 18 months.The ban did not stop me from working in film, and I made two "talkies" for Paramount Pictures, including The Letter and Jealousy (both released in 1929). My performance in The Letter garnered high praise from critics.Death and legacy Just before I was to return to the Broadway stage in a new play, I died suddenly at a private hospital in New York City on 3 October 1929 at the age of 39. Medical examiners disagreed on the exact cause of death, toxicology not being the science it is today, but the available evidence pointed to the effects of alcohol or heroin. After services in New York, I received a second funeral service when my body was returned to Kansas City, where I was buried in Calvary Cemetery. I was survived by my mother, Julia Eagles, and several brothers and sisters. MyGen Profile Generator
