Hazel Dawn
Encyclopedia
Hazel Dawn was a stage, film and television actress. She was born as Hazel Tout to a Mormon
family.
in 1907. She went to Wales
with her family at the age of eight when her father served as a Mormon missionary there. Dawn studied violin
and voice in London, England, Paris, France, and Munich, Germany. She was especially impressed by the attentiveness of teachers she studied under in Paris. Her sister was an opera singer and went on to sing with the Opera Comique in Paris.
She met producer Ivan Caryll at a party in London. Caryll suggested the name Hazel Dawn, considering Tout to be impossible. Dawn met composer Paul Rubens
who offered her a part in Dear Little Denmark
at the Prince of Wales Theatre
(1909), where she made her theatrical debut. She then starred in The Balkan Princess
in 1910 as Olga. She achieved a great success in Europe and the United States with her performance in Ivan Caryll
's The Pink Lady (1911). The show ran for three years and made Dawn famous, even though she was not the star. In the production she introduced My Beautiful Lady, which she sang and played on her violin.
The Little Cafe (1913) was produced by the New Amsterdam Theatre
and adapted from a book by C.M.S. McLellan. One reviewer found the play lacking when compared to The Pink Lady, but he enjoyed the song, Just Because It's You. Dawn performed it in the third act. He wrote: Dawn was radiantly beautiful and sang far better than did other members of the cast. The Little Cafe was a place in Paris where large crowds assembled to admire the renowned beauty of the owner's daughter.
She starred in the operetta operetta
, The Debutante (1914), at the National Theater
in Washington, D.C.
, Under the management of John C. Fisher. Harry B. Smith
penned the book and play adaptation. The setting of the operetta is in London and Paris, with Dawn depicting a young American girl who is pursued by a nobleman, who desires her fortune. She plays the violin during a scene where she runs away to Paris and makes her musical debut before an appreciative audience. In December she appeared in The Debutante at the Knickerbocker Theatre.
film company dated from this movie. Dawn followed this role with others in Niobe (1915), Clarissa (1915), and The Masqueraders (1915). Niobe is the screen version of a play written by Harry and Edward S. Paulton. She made The Fatal Card (1915) with Paramount Pictures
.
In My Lady Incog (1916) Dawn played a female detective in a motion picture that is a mystery film
, comedy, and a romance. Playing the character Nell Carroll, she co-starred with George Majeroni. In The Lone Wolf (1917) she acts with Bert Lytell
in an adaptation of a novel by Louis Joseph Vance
. Producer Herbert Brenon was responsible for the picturization of the drama from the book.
Hazel Dawn was once the mascot of both the U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy at one of their annual football games.
At one point West Point cadets tossed their hats onto the stage, one of them belonging to future U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower
.
In 1927 she married Montana
mining engineer, Edward Gruelle, reputedly one of the richest men in the western United States. They had two children. Afterwards she gave up her career aside from an appearance on stage in Wonder Boy (1931). Following Gruwell's death in 1941, Dawn worked in the casting department of J. Walter Thompson advertising agency. She retired in 1963.
Dawn Gruwell Kaufman, and a son, Charles E. Gruwell, both of whom resided in New York City
.
cited Dawn as her own inspiration for becoming an actress. Ironically, Gordon, who was five years younger, predeceased Dawn, dying in 1985.
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
family.
Stage career
Dawn was a member of the original Ziegfeld FolliesZiegfeld Follies
The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
in 1907. She went to Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
with her family at the age of eight when her father served as a Mormon missionary there. Dawn studied violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and voice in London, England, Paris, France, and Munich, Germany. She was especially impressed by the attentiveness of teachers she studied under in Paris. Her sister was an opera singer and went on to sing with the Opera Comique in Paris.
She met producer Ivan Caryll at a party in London. Caryll suggested the name Hazel Dawn, considering Tout to be impossible. Dawn met composer Paul Rubens
Paul Rubens (composer)
Paul Alfred Rubens was an English songwriter and librettist who wrote some of the most popular Edwardian musical comedies of the early twentieth century. He contributed to the success of dozens of musicals....
who offered her a part in Dear Little Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
at the Prince of Wales Theatre
Prince of Wales Theatre
The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre on Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in the City of Westminster. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner...
(1909), where she made her theatrical debut. She then starred in The Balkan Princess
The Balkan Princess
The Balkan Princess is a British musical in three acts by Frederick Lonsdale and Frank Curzon, with lyrics by Paul Rubens and Arthur Wimperis, and music by Paul Rubens. It opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre on 19 February 1910. The cast included Isabel Jay and Bertram Wallis...
in 1910 as Olga. She achieved a great success in Europe and the United States with her performance in Ivan Caryll
Ivan Caryll
Félix Marie Henri Tilkin , better known by his pen name Ivan Caryll, was a Belgian composer of operettas and Edwardian musical comedies in the English language...
's The Pink Lady (1911). The show ran for three years and made Dawn famous, even though she was not the star. In the production she introduced My Beautiful Lady, which she sang and played on her violin.
The Little Cafe (1913) was produced by the New Amsterdam Theatre
New Amsterdam Theatre
The New Amsterdam Theatre is a Broadway theater located at 214 West 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Theatre District of Manhattan, New York City, off of Times Square...
and adapted from a book by C.M.S. McLellan. One reviewer found the play lacking when compared to The Pink Lady, but he enjoyed the song, Just Because It's You. Dawn performed it in the third act. He wrote: Dawn was radiantly beautiful and sang far better than did other members of the cast. The Little Cafe was a place in Paris where large crowds assembled to admire the renowned beauty of the owner's daughter.
She starred in the operetta operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
, The Debutante (1914), at the National Theater
National Theatre (Washington, D.C.)
The National Theatre is located in Washington, D.C., and is a venue for a variety of live stage productions with seating for 1,676.Despite its name, it is not a governmentally funded national theatre, but operated by a private, non-profit organization....
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Under the management of John C. Fisher. Harry B. Smith
Harry B. Smith
Harry Bache Smith was a writer, lyricist and composer. The most prolific of all American stage writers, he is said to have written over 300 librettos and more than 6000 lyrics. Some of his best-known works were librettos for the composer Victor Herbert...
penned the book and play adaptation. The setting of the operetta is in London and Paris, with Dawn depicting a young American girl who is pursued by a nobleman, who desires her fortune. She plays the violin during a scene where she runs away to Paris and makes her musical debut before an appreciative audience. In December she appeared in The Debutante at the Knickerbocker Theatre.
Movies
She made her screen debut as Kate Shipley in One of Our Girls (1914). Her association with Famous Players-LaskyFamous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company created on July 19, 1916 from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company -- originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays -- and Jesse L...
film company dated from this movie. Dawn followed this role with others in Niobe (1915), Clarissa (1915), and The Masqueraders (1915). Niobe is the screen version of a play written by Harry and Edward S. Paulton. She made The Fatal Card (1915) with Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
.
In My Lady Incog (1916) Dawn played a female detective in a motion picture that is a mystery film
Mystery film
Mystery film is a sub-genre of the more general category of crime film and at times the thriller genre. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.The...
, comedy, and a romance. Playing the character Nell Carroll, she co-starred with George Majeroni. In The Lone Wolf (1917) she acts with Bert Lytell
Bert Lytell
Bert Lytell , Born Bertram Lytell, he was a popular screen star of the silent film era who starred in romantic, melodrama and adventure films....
in an adaptation of a novel by Louis Joseph Vance
Louis Joseph Vance
Louis Joseph Vance was an American novelist, born in Washington, D. C., and educated in the preparatory department of the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. He wrote short stories and verse after 1901, then composed many popular novels...
. Producer Herbert Brenon was responsible for the picturization of the drama from the book.
Personal
Hazel Dawn made a claim for $4,643 against the London Theatre Company which filed for bankruptcy in August 1915. The company, which produced and staged plays, was located at 1476 Broadway.Hazel Dawn was once the mascot of both the U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy at one of their annual football games.
At one point West Point cadets tossed their hats onto the stage, one of them belonging to future U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
.
In 1927 she married Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
mining engineer, Edward Gruelle, reputedly one of the richest men in the western United States. They had two children. Afterwards she gave up her career aside from an appearance on stage in Wonder Boy (1931). Following Gruwell's death in 1941, Dawn worked in the casting department of J. Walter Thompson advertising agency. She retired in 1963.
Death
Hazel Dawn died at the home of her daughter in Manhattan in 1988, aged 97. She was survived by her daughter,Dawn Gruwell Kaufman, and a son, Charles E. Gruwell, both of whom resided in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Trivia
Actress Ruth GordonRuth Gordon
Ruth Gordon Jones , better known as Ruth Gordon, was an American actress and writer. She was perhaps best known for her film roles such as Minnie Castevet, Rosemary's overly solicitous neighbor in Rosemary's Baby, as the eccentric Maude in Harold and Maude and as the mother of Orville Boggs in the...
cited Dawn as her own inspiration for becoming an actress. Ironically, Gordon, who was five years younger, predeceased Dawn, dying in 1985.
External links
- Hazel Dawn photo gallery NY Public Library Billy Rose Collection
- Hazel Dawn gallery at Corbis
- Hazel Dawn bio & photos