Evelyn Daw (born Evelyn Pearl Shuck; November 16, 1912 – November 29, 1970), was an American singer and actress.

Early years

Born Evelyn Pearl Shuck, Daw was the daughter of Walter Shuck and Edith Miller Shuck of

Geddes, South Dakota Geddes is a city in central Charles Mix County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 156 at the 2020 census. Geddes was laid out in 1900. Geography Geddes is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a ...

, both of whose families were pioneers who settled in South Dakota. As a child, she sang in her church choir and acted in school plays. After finishing high school in 1930, she attended

Dakota Wesleyan University Dakota Wesleyan University (DWU) is a private Methodist university in Mitchell, South Dakota. It was founded in 1885 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The student body averages slightly fewer than 800 students. The campus of th ...

for one year before moving to Los Angeles to seek additional musical training. While studying voice, she filled in for soloists at two churches in Los Angeles.

Career

Daw sang in operettas put on by local groups in Los Angeles, and a musician for one of the productions arranged for her to audition with director

Victor Schertzinger Victor L. Schertzinger (April 8, 1888 – October 26, 1941) was an American composer, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. His films include '' Paramount on Parade'' (co-director, 1930), ''Something to Sing About'' (1937) with James C ...

. Her audition and screen test led to her appearance in the film '' Something to Sing About'' (1937), under contract with Grand National Films, Inc. That contract proved to be short-lived when the studio went into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...

and Daw was turned away from the pay window with no salary. She co-starred in the musical Western ''

Panamint's Bad Man ''Panamint's Bad Man'' is a 1938 American Western film directed by Ray Taylor and written by Luci Ward and Charles Arthur Powell. The film stars Smith Ballew, Evelyn Daw, Noah Beery, Sr., Stanley Fields, Harry Woods and Pat J. O'Brien. Th ...

'' (1938) for another studio, but that was the end of her film career. In 1940, Daw was a "general understudy for the stars" in the stage production ''Three after Three''. In the summer of 1941, Daw performed with the Palmerton Players at the Whalom Theater in Massachusetts. Her parts there ranged from a "noisy adolescent" in ''Fly Away Home'' to the title role in ''

No, No, Nanette ''No, No, Nanette'' is a musical comedy with lyrics by Irving Caesar and Otto Harbach, music by Vincent Youmans, and a book by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel, based on Mandel's 1919 Broadway play ''My Lady Friends''. The farcical story involves t ...

''. She returned there to perform during other summers in the 1940s. Daw sang with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Schubert Brothers in New York City. Beginning in 1941, she toured with the J. J. Shubert Opera Co. for 11 years. After she moved to San Diego, she performed with the

Old Globe Theatre The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which i ...

there. After Daw's performing career ended, she became a teacher of piano and voice in

Covina, California Covina is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles, in the San Gabriel Valley. The population was 51,268 according to the 2020 census, up from 47,796 at the 201 ...

Personal life and death

Daw was married to Dr. Stewart H. Smith; they had two daughters and two sons. On November 29, 1970, she died in San Diego, aged 58.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daw, Evelyn 1912 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American actresses American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American stage actresses Actresses from South Dakota