Thais Lawton (June 18, 1879 — December 18, 1956) was an American actress.

Early life

Eugenia (or Eugenie) Thais Lawton was raised and educated in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, the daughter of Joseph Eugene Lawton and Caroline Thais Magrane; her father was English and her mother was French. Fellow actress Thais Magrane was her cousin. She used both her first and middle name professionally until about 1906, when she began preferring "Thais Lawton".

Career

Lawton was active on the New York stage from 1900 to 1940, best known for playing "adventuresses" and "villainesses". "Just playing nice heroines would become rather tiresome, I am afraid," she explained to a reporter in 1923. She appeared in shows including ''Lost River'' (1900), ''The Second Mrs. Tanqueray'' (1907), ''The Revellers'' (1909), ''Strife'' (1909), ''The School for Scandal'' (1909), ''Don'' (1909), ''Liz the Mother'', ''The Witch'' (1910), ''Brand'' (1910), ''The Thunderbolt'' (1910), ''Vanity Fair'' (1911), ''The Piper'' (1911), ''The Blue Bird'' (1911), ''The Winter's Tale'' (1911), ''A Single Man'' (1911), ''John Gabriel Borkman'' (1915), ''The Chief'' (1915), ''Caliban by the Yellow Sands'' (1916), ''The Guilty Man'' (1916), ''The Masquerader'' (1917), ''The Crimson Alibi'' (1919), '' The Blue Flame'' (1920), ''The Wandering Jew'' (1921), ''The Exciters'' (1922), ''Jitta's Atonement'' (1923), ''Thumbs Down'' (1923), ''Two Strangers from Nowhere'' (1924), ''The Red Falcon'' (1924), ''Cain'' (1924), ''Mister Romeo'' (1927), ''Napoleon'' (1928), ''The Novice and the Duke'' (1929), ''The Royal Virgin'' (1930), ''The Ninth Guest'' (1930), ''Philip Goes Forth'' (1931), ''Going Gay'' (1933), ''Birthright'' (1933), ''Times Have Changed'' (1935), ''Love in my Fashion'' (1937), and ''Romantic Mr. Dickens'' (1940). She was also a frequent and popular performer in San Francisco. Lawton appeared in two silent films, ''

The Battle Cry of Peace ''The Battle Cry of Peace'' is a 1915 American silent War film directed by Wilfrid North and J. Stuart Blackton, one of the founders of Vitagraph Company of America who also wrote the scenario. The film is based on the book ''Defenseless Ameri ...

'' (1915), and ''The Pardon'' (1915). Later in life she taught acting; among her students was actress Marie Wallace.

Personal life

In 1922, Lawton was driving when her car struck and killed a child who ran into the street; she was not found to be at fault. Thais Lawton married Percy McDermott; they soon divorced. She died in 1956, aged 78 years."Thais Lawton, Stage Actress, Dies at 78; Played in Classical and Modern Works" ''New York Times'' (December 9, 1956): 31. via

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...

References

External links

* *
Eugenia Thais Lawton's gravesite
on Find a Grave. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawton, Thais 1879 births 1956 deaths 20th-century American actresses American silent film actresses People from Louisville, Kentucky