Eddie Foy
Encyclopedia
Eddie Foy, Sr. was an actor, comedian, dancer and vaudevillian
.
in 1855 and lived first in New York's Bowery
and then in Greenwich Village
, where Eddie was born. Richard Fitzgerald died in an insane asylum in 1862 from syphilis
-induced dementia
, and his widow took her four children (Eddie was second oldest) to Chicago
, where she reportedly at one time tended the mentally ill widow of Abraham Lincoln
.
Six-year-old Eddie began performing in the streets and local saloons to support his family. At 15, he changed his name to Foy and with a partner began dancing in bars, traveling throughout the western United States. He worked for a time as a supernumerary
in theatrical productions, sharing a stage at times with such leading men of the time as Edwin Booth
and Joseph Jefferson
. With another partner, Jim Thompson, Foy went west again and gained his first professional recognition in mining camps and cow towns. In one such town, Dodge City, Kansas
, Foy and his partner lingered for some time and Foy became acquainted with notable citizens Wyatt Earp
, Bat Masterson
, and Doc Holliday
. In later years, Foy told of an altercation over a girl with fellow actor Charles Chaplin (not the later film star), who was drunkenly taking pot-shots at Foy. The gunfire awakened Wyatt Earp
, who disarmed the actor and sent both the players home to sleep it off. Foy is also rumored to have been in Tombstone, Arizona
, in October 1881, appearing at the local theatre when the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
occurred on the 26th of that month.
In 1879, Foy married Rose Howland, one of the singing Howland Sisters, who were traveling the same circuit. Three years later, Foy and troupe relocated to Philadelphia and joined the Carncross Minstrels. That same year, however, Rose Foy died in childbirth, as did the child she was delivering. Foy lingered with the troupe for two seasons and then returned to the road. He joined David Henderson's troupe and traveled all around the U.S., dancing, doing comedy, and acting in farces. In San Francisco, he met Lola Sefton and was romantically involved with her for ten years until her death in 1894. Although some sources claim they were married, no record of their marriage has ever been found, nor apparently did Foy ever state clearly that a marriage had occurred. They had no children.
In 1896, Foy married his third wife, Madeline Morando, a dancer with his company. She gave him eleven children, of whom seven survived. These were: Bryan (1896–1977), who became a producer at Warner Bros; Charley (1898–1984), an actor; Mary (1901–1987); Madeline (1903–1988), an actress; Eddie Jr. (1905–1983), who carved out a successful career as an actor and entertainer on stage and screen, including a role in The Pajama Game
and Bells Are Ringing
; Richard (1905–1947); and Irving (1908–2003), a writer. Eddie Jr.'s son, Eddie III, was a casting director with Columbia Pictures
for over 40 years.
Between 1901 and 1912, Foy Sr. played the leading comic roles in a series of musical comedies in New York City and on tour, including The Strollers (1901), The Wild Rose (1902), Mr. Bluebeard (1903), Piff! Paff! Pouf! (1904), The Earl and the Girl
(1905), The Orchid
(1907), Mr Hamlet of Broadway (1908/9), Up and Down Broadway (1910), and Over the River (1912). It was while on tour with Mr. Bluebeard that he became a hero of Chicago’s infamous Iroquois Theater Fire
, December 30, 1903. A malfunctioning spotlight set fire to the scenery backstage, and Foy stayed onstage until the last minute, trying to keep the audience from panicking. Unfortunately the theatre’s safety features were woefully inadequate, the theatre personnel untrained, and some of the exits locked from the outside, and at least 600 people perished. Foy escaped by crawling through a sewer.
Between 1910 and 1913, he formed a family vaudeville act, and "Eddie Foy and The Seven Little Foys" quickly turned into a national institution. While Eddie was a stern disciplinarian backstage (his wife Madeline died in 1918), he portrayed an indulgent papa onstage, and the Foys toured successfully for over a decade and appeared in one motion picture. The children began to go their separate ways after Eddie remarried—to Marie Reilly Coombs—in 1923, but the four younger children (Madeline, Mary, Charlie, and Irving) performed together until the mid 1930s. A dedicated trouper, the elder Foy continued to appear in vaudeville and starred in the hit Broadway comedy "The Fallen Star" in 1927. He died of a heart attack
while headlining on the Orpheum circuit in Kansas City, Mo.
at age 71.
After the "Seven Little Foys" stopped performing together, the children pursued separate careers. Eddie Foy Jr. had a successful independent career as an actor, beginning with an appearance on Broadway
as a single act in 1929. In the 1940s and 1950s, son Bryan composed show music, wrote for Buster Keaton
, and had a long career as a director of films in Hollywood. Eddie Sr. and son Richard operated a theater chain business in Dallas. Son Irving also worked in the movie theatre business, managing theatres in Dallas and Albuquerque. Son Charley and daughter Mary operated the Charley Foy Supper Club in Sherman Oaks, California, where comedians such as Jackie Gleason
, Dan Rowan, Dick Martin
, and Phil Silvers
appeared early in their careers.
The family’s story was filmed in 1955 as The Seven Little Foys
with Bob Hope
as Eddie Sr. and James Cagney
as George M. Cohan
; Charley Foy narrated. Eddie Foy Jr. appeared as his father in several films—Frontier Marshal
(1939), Lillian Russell
(1940), Yankee Doodle Dandy
(1942), and Wilson
(1944)—as well as a television version of The Seven Little Foys with Mickey Rooney
(1964). The first stage musical version of The Seven Little Foys, written by Chip Deffaa
, had its world premiere at the Seven Angels Theater in Waterbury, CT, in 2007. In 2008, it had its New York premiere as part of the New York International Fringe Festival; the cast included Ryan Foy (a great-great grandson of Eddie Foy Sr. and grandson of Irving Foy), who works as an actor today. All of Eddie Foy Sr.'s children except Bryan are buried with their father at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery
in New Rochelle
, New York.
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
.
Early years
Foy's parents, Richard and Mary Fitzgerald, immigrated to the United States from IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in 1855 and lived first in New York's Bowery
Bowery
Bowery may refer to:Streets:* The Bowery, a thoroughfare in Manhattan, New York City* Bowery Street is a street on Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y.In popular culture:* Bowery Amphitheatre, a building on the Bowery in New York City...
and then in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, where Eddie was born. Richard Fitzgerald died in an insane asylum in 1862 from syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
-induced dementia
Dementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
, and his widow took her four children (Eddie was second oldest) to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, where she reportedly at one time tended the mentally ill widow of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
.
Six-year-old Eddie began performing in the streets and local saloons to support his family. At 15, he changed his name to Foy and with a partner began dancing in bars, traveling throughout the western United States. He worked for a time as a supernumerary
Supernumerary
A Supernumerary is an additional member of an organization. A supernumerary is also a non-regular member of a staff, a member of the staff or an employee who works in a public office who is not part of the manpower complement...
in theatrical productions, sharing a stage at times with such leading men of the time as Edwin Booth
Edwin Booth
Edwin Thomas Booth was a famous 19th century American actor who toured throughout America and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869 he founded Booth's Theatre in New York, a spectacular theatre that was quite modern for its time...
and Joseph Jefferson
Joseph Jefferson
Joseph Jefferson, commonly known as Joe Jefferson , was an American actor. He was the third actor of this name in a family of actors and managers, and one of the most famous of all American comedians....
. With another partner, Jim Thompson, Foy went west again and gained his first professional recognition in mining camps and cow towns. In one such town, Dodge City, Kansas
Dodge City, Kansas
Dodge City is a city in, and the county seat of, Ford County, Kansas, United States. Named after nearby Fort Dodge, the city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town of the Old West. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,340.-History:The first settlement of...
, Foy and his partner lingered for some time and Foy became acquainted with notable citizens Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known...
, Bat Masterson
Bat Masterson
William Barclay "Bat" Masterson was a figure of the American Old West known as a buffalo hunter, U.S. Marshal and Army scout, avid fisherman, gambler, frontier lawman, and sports editor and columnist for the New York Morning Telegraph...
, and Doc Holliday
Doc Holliday
John Henry "Doc" Holliday was an American gambler, gunfighter and dentist of the American Old West, who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral...
. In later years, Foy told of an altercation over a girl with fellow actor Charles Chaplin (not the later film star), who was drunkenly taking pot-shots at Foy. The gunfire awakened Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known...
, who disarmed the actor and sent both the players home to sleep it off. Foy is also rumored to have been in Tombstone, Arizona
Tombstone, Arizona
Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. From about 1877 to 1890, the town's mines produced USD $40 to $85 million...
, in October 1881, appearing at the local theatre when the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a roughly 30-second gunfight that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona Territory, of the United States. Outlaw Cowboys Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran from the fight, unharmed, but Ike's brother...
occurred on the 26th of that month.
In 1879, Foy married Rose Howland, one of the singing Howland Sisters, who were traveling the same circuit. Three years later, Foy and troupe relocated to Philadelphia and joined the Carncross Minstrels. That same year, however, Rose Foy died in childbirth, as did the child she was delivering. Foy lingered with the troupe for two seasons and then returned to the road. He joined David Henderson's troupe and traveled all around the U.S., dancing, doing comedy, and acting in farces. In San Francisco, he met Lola Sefton and was romantically involved with her for ten years until her death in 1894. Although some sources claim they were married, no record of their marriage has ever been found, nor apparently did Foy ever state clearly that a marriage had occurred. They had no children.
Return to Chicago
He returned to Chicago in 1888 as the star comedian in variety shows and revues, initially for his own company. He played the variety circuits for years in a series of song and dance acts, eventually rising to musical comedy stardom in such Broadway hits as The Strollers (1901) and Mr. Bluebeard (1903). Foy specialized in eccentric routines and costumes, often appearing in drag to hilarious effect. His upper lip extended well below his teeth, giving him an unusual V-shaped grin, and making him look like he had no upper teeth. As a result he spoke with a slurred lisp that audiences adored.In 1896, Foy married his third wife, Madeline Morando, a dancer with his company. She gave him eleven children, of whom seven survived. These were: Bryan (1896–1977), who became a producer at Warner Bros; Charley (1898–1984), an actor; Mary (1901–1987); Madeline (1903–1988), an actress; Eddie Jr. (1905–1983), who carved out a successful career as an actor and entertainer on stage and screen, including a role in The Pajama Game
The Pajama Game
The Pajama Game is a musical based on the novel 7½ Cents by Richard Bissell. It features a score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story deals with labor troubles in a pajama factory, where worker demands for a seven-and-a-half cents raise are going unheeded...
and Bells Are Ringing
Bells Are Ringing (film)
Bells Are Ringing is a 1960 romantic comedy-musical film directed by Vincente Minnelli. It stars Judy Holliday and Dean Martin.-Synopsis:Based on the successful 1956 Broadway production of the same name by Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Jule Styne, the film focuses on Ella Peterson, who works in...
; Richard (1905–1947); and Irving (1908–2003), a writer. Eddie Jr.'s son, Eddie III, was a casting director with Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
for over 40 years.
Between 1901 and 1912, Foy Sr. played the leading comic roles in a series of musical comedies in New York City and on tour, including The Strollers (1901), The Wild Rose (1902), Mr. Bluebeard (1903), Piff! Paff! Pouf! (1904), The Earl and the Girl
The Earl and the Girl
The Earl and the Girl is a musical comedy in two acts by Seymour Hicks, with lyrics by Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll. It was produced by William Greet and opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London on 10 December 1903. It transferred to the Lyric Theatre on 12 September 1904, running for...
(1905), The Orchid
The Orchid
The Orchid is a musical play in two acts by James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton and additional numbers by Paul Rubens. It opened at Gaiety Theatre in London on 26 October 1903 and ran for 559 performances. It starred Gertie...
(1907), Mr Hamlet of Broadway (1908/9), Up and Down Broadway (1910), and Over the River (1912). It was while on tour with Mr. Bluebeard that he became a hero of Chicago’s infamous Iroquois Theater Fire
Iroquois Theater Fire
The Iroquois Theatre fire occurred on December 30, 1903, in Chicago, Illinois. It is the deadliest theater fire and the deadliest single-building fire in United States history...
, December 30, 1903. A malfunctioning spotlight set fire to the scenery backstage, and Foy stayed onstage until the last minute, trying to keep the audience from panicking. Unfortunately the theatre’s safety features were woefully inadequate, the theatre personnel untrained, and some of the exits locked from the outside, and at least 600 people perished. Foy escaped by crawling through a sewer.
Eddie Foy and The Seven Little Foys
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
while headlining on the Orpheum circuit in Kansas City, Mo.
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
at age 71.
After the "Seven Little Foys" stopped performing together, the children pursued separate careers. Eddie Foy Jr. had a successful independent career as an actor, beginning with an appearance on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
as a single act in 1929. In the 1940s and 1950s, son Bryan composed show music, wrote for Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
, and had a long career as a director of films in Hollywood. Eddie Sr. and son Richard operated a theater chain business in Dallas. Son Irving also worked in the movie theatre business, managing theatres in Dallas and Albuquerque. Son Charley and daughter Mary operated the Charley Foy Supper Club in Sherman Oaks, California, where comedians such as Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, a situation-comedy television series. His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The...
, Dan Rowan, Dick Martin
Dick Martin
Dick Martin may refer to:*Dick Martin , American illustrator, particularly associated with the Land of Oz*Dick Martin , co-host of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In*Dickie Martin, British test pilot-See also:*Richard Martin...
, and Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
appeared early in their careers.
The family’s story was filmed in 1955 as The Seven Little Foys
The Seven Little Foys
The Seven Little Foys is a 1955 film starring Bob Hope as Eddie Foy. James Cagney reprises his role as George M. Cohan for an energetic tabletop dance showdown sequence. In addition to the famous film, the story of Eddie Foy, Sr...
with Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
as Eddie Sr. and James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
as George M. Cohan
George M. Cohan
George Michael Cohan , known professionally as George M. Cohan, was a major American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer, and producer....
; Charley Foy narrated. Eddie Foy Jr. appeared as his father in several films—Frontier Marshal
Frontier Marshal (1939 film)
Frontier Marshal is a 1939 western film starring Randolph Scott as Wyatt Earp. It is the second film produced by Sol M. Wurtzel based on Stuart N. Lake's highly fictionalized account of Earp, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal. An earlier version was Wurtzel's Frontier Marshal, filmed in 1934...
(1939), Lillian Russell
Lillian Russell (film)
Lillian Russell is a 1940 biographical film of the life of the singer and actress. The screenplay was by William Anthony McGuire. The film was directed by Irving Cummings and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It starred Alice Faye in the title role, Don Ameche, Henry Fonda and Edward Arnold as Diamond...
(1940), Yankee Doodle Dandy
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Yankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 American biographical musical film about George M. Cohan, known as "The Man Who Owns Broadway". It stars James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, and Richard Whorf, and features Irene Manning, George Tobias, Rosemary DeCamp and Jeanne Cagney.The movie was written by...
(1942), and Wilson
Wilson (film)
Wilson is a 1944 biographical film in Technicolor about President Woodrow Wilson. It stars Charles Coburn, Alexander Knox, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Thomas Mitchell and Sir Cedric Hardwicke.The movie was written by Lamar Trotti and directed by Henry King...
(1944)—as well as a television version of The Seven Little Foys with Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
(1964). The first stage musical version of The Seven Little Foys, written by Chip Deffaa
Chip Deffaa
Chip Deffaa is an author, jazz historian, playwright, songwriter and director. For 18 years, he wrote for the New York Post, covering jazz, cabaret, and theater...
, had its world premiere at the Seven Angels Theater in Waterbury, CT, in 2007. In 2008, it had its New York premiere as part of the New York International Fringe Festival; the cast included Ryan Foy (a great-great grandson of Eddie Foy Sr. and grandson of Irving Foy), who works as an actor today. All of Eddie Foy Sr.'s children except Bryan are buried with their father at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery (New Rochelle, NY)
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery is a Catholic cemetery in New Rochelle in Westchester County, New York. The cemetery is maintained by the Blessed Sacrament Church, whose priest, Father McLoughlin, started it in 1886....
in New Rochelle
New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing persecution in France...
, New York.
External links
- Chip Deffaa Productions (repertoire includes Foy revival productions)