Not politics, but what a slice of Americana this woman's life was.
Mrs. Travis may have been the youngest Ziegfeld Girl ever, having lied about her age to begin dancing at 14. She was part of a celebrated family of American stage performers known as “the seven little Eatons.” George Gershwin played on her family’s piano, and Charles Lindbergh dropped by for “tea,” Prohibition cocktails.
After three years with the Ziegfeld troupe, Mrs. Travis went on to perform in stage productions and silent films. In 1938, in Detroit, she opened the first Arthur Murray dance studio outside New York. She eventually owned 18 Murray studios in Michigan.
Mrs. Travis never stopped performing. In 2008, at age 104, she danced at the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS annual Easter benefit, something she started doing in 1998. But no spotlight was as bright as the one she basked in as an ingénue.
Doris was introduced to the Follies in 1918 by her sister Pearl, who by then was a dance director for the troupe. Arriving for a rehearsal, Doris ended up being hired for the summer tour, starting the day she finished eighth grade. Besides inflating her age, she used pseudonyms to avoid problems with child-labor laws.
Doris began as a chorus girl and understudy to the show’s star. In 1919, she wore a red costume and played the paprika part in the salad dance. In 1920, she had a solo, a jazzy tap dance.
