Jeanne Eagels (June 26, 1890 – October 3, 1929) was an American actress on Broadway and in several motion pictures. She was a former Ziegfeld Follies Girl who went on to greater fame on Broadway and in the emerging medium of sound films.She was posthumously considered for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her 1929 role in The Letter after dying suddenly that year at the age of 39. That nomination was the first posthumous Oscar consideration for any actor, male or female.
George Eagles, Paul Eagles, Helen Eagles, Edna Eagles, Leo Eagles
Nominations
Academy Award for Best Actress
Star Sign
Cancer
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Quote
1
I'm the greatest actress in the world and the greatest failure. And nobody gives a damn.
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Fact
1
Although Eagels claimed to be born in Boston, both the 1900 and 1910 United States Federal Censuses state that she was born in Missouri.
2
On the 1900 and 1910 United States Federal Censuses for Kansas City, Missouri, Eagels is listed as "Eugenia Eagles" as her given name. Also, the 1910 Census, listed actress as her occupation.
3
She had a son with first husband Dubinsky, but his fate is not known.
4
Her two sound films, The Letter (1929) and Jealousy (1929), were remade with Bette Davis (the Davis version of "Jealousy" was retitled Deception (1946)). Davis also played a character loosely based on Eagels in Dangerous (1935).
5
Though not known to the public at the time Eagles had a long history of drug and alcohol problems. The studio heads did their best to keep this information out of the press and continually reported that her frequent trips to the sanitarium was due to a hereditary illness. When she died, her manager insisted that she had died of a stroke but the truth wasn't discovered until many years later.
6
Her Academy Award nomination for The Letter (1929) made her the first ever posthumous Oscar nominee.
7
Changed the spelling of her last name when she became famous from Eagles to Eagels because she thought it would look better in lights. It is the original spelling, not the stage spelling that is engraved on her headstone in Kansas City, Missouri.
8
Had an affair during the early 1920s with the young Arthur Fiedler, later the long-time music director of the famous Boston "Pops" concerts. Fiedler would always describe Eagels as the one great love of his life, and kept her autographed picture on his desk until his death.
9
Best known on Broadway for her role of Sadie Thompson in "Rain."
10
Her first stage experience was at age 11 playing Puck in "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
Jealousy
1929
Yvonne
The Letter
1929
Leslie Crosbie
Man, Woman and Sin
1927
Vera Worth
The Madonna of the Slums
1919
Short
The Cross Bearer
1918
Liane de Merode
Under False Colors
1917
Countess Olga
The Fires of Youth
1917
Billy's Sister (as Jeanne Eagles)
The World and the Woman
1916
A Woman of the Streets
The House of Fear
1915/I
Grace Cramp
A Lesson in Bridge
1914
Short
Mrs. Willis
The Bride of the Sea
1913
Short
The Ace of Hearts
1913
Short
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Hollywood
1980
TV Mini-Series documentary
Herself
Nominated Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1930
Oscar
Academy Awards, USA
Best Actress in a Leading Role
The Letter (1929)
Known for movies
The Letter (1929) as Leslie Crosbie
Man, Woman and Sin (1927) as Vera Worth
The World and the Woman (1916) as A Woman of the Streets
$9 Million
