Mitzi Hajos

Magdalena "Mitzi" Hajos was born in 1889 (some sources give 1891, and Hajos herself gave various dates), near Budapest, Hungary.

As a young teenager she performed in music hall shows in Europe. At age 20, she moved to the United States at the invitation of William Morris to appear in Barnyard Romeo, a show she had performed in Vienna. From 1914 to 1925, she worked exclusively for opera producer Henry Wilson Savage. She was often described as "tiny" and "diminutive", and often played children or characters pretending to be children.[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/02/29/100196233.pdf "Mitzi Hajos the Joy of Pretty 'Pom-Pom'"] New York Times (February 29, 1916). A reviewer in the New York Times approved, saying, "she makes such an adorable boy, too."[https://www.proquest.com/hnpnewyorktimes/docview/97965520/B533DED69D3840ACPQ/3 "They Wouldn't Believe Me"] New York Times (April 9, 1916): X9. Because her surname was difficult for American audiences, she went by the single name "Mitzi" in programs and publicity materials at the peak of her career.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6888007/mitzi_hajos_just_mitzi_1917/ "Pom-Pom Coming to the Academy"] Reading Times (February 8, 1917): 10. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}

File:Pom-pom (1916) 1.jpg

Broadway shows she appeared in included La Belle Paree (1911), Her Little Highness (1913),Michael G. Ankerich, [https://books.google.com/books?id=N-bDLdMgkQMC&dq=Mitzi+Hajos&pg=PA32 Mae Murray: The Girl with the Bee-stung Lips] (University Press of Kentucky 2012): 31-32. {{ISBN|9780813136905}} Sari (1914, 1930),Cecil A. Smith and Glenn Litton, [https://books.google.com/books?id=9efWAQAAQBAJ&dq=Mitzi+Hajos&pg=PA96 Musical Comedy in America: From the Black Crook to South Pacific, from The King and I to Sweeney Todd] (Routledge 2013): 96. {{ISBN|9781136556753}} Pom-pom (1916), Head over Heels (1918),Steven Suskin, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zza7hb5iF7EC&dq=Mitzi+Hajos&pg=PT122 Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows, and Careers of Broadway's Major Composers] (Oxford University Press 2010). {{ISBN|9780199886159}} Lady Billy (1920-1921),[http://rrcs-208-125-60-82.nys.biz.rr.com/Process%20small/Newspapers/New%20York%20NY%20Clipper%201853%20-%201924/New%20York%20NY%20Clipper%201920-1921%20pdf/New%20York%20NY%20Clipper%201920-1921%20-%201046.pdf "'Lady Billy' is Tuneful"] New York Clipper (September 1, 1920): 5. The Magic Ring (1923), Naughty Riquette (1926), The Madcap (1928),[https://www.proquest.com/hnpnewyorktimes/docview/104656292/B533DED69D3840ACPQ/14 "Madcap Shows Mitzi to Fair Advantage"] New York Times (February 1, 1928): 31. You Can't Take It With You (1936-1938),Jared Brown, [https://books.google.com/books?id=CMhYuJ7WdiAC&dq=Mitzi+Hajos&pg=PA199 Moss Hart: A Prince of the Theatre] (Backstage Books 2006): 199. {{ISBN|9780823078905}} Mr. Big (1941), and Cafe Crown (1942).Albert Goldberg, [http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1944/04/23/page/51/article/sari-and-mitzi-hajos "'Sari' and Mitzi Hajos"] Chicago Tribune (April 23, 1944): 5. Between Broadway appearances she would tour the United States with her shows.[http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SU19221119.2.122 "Mitzi Hajos Will Return to Clunie in 'Lady Bill'"] Sacramento Union (November 19, 1922): 14.[http://archive.jta.org/1934/08/19/archive/mitzi-hajos-in-new-comedy "Mitzi Hajos in New Comedy"] Jewish Telegraphic Agency (August 19, 1934).

In 1916, she was named vice president of Sunbeam Motion Picture Corporation.[https://books.google.com/books?id=a3lJAQAAMAAJ&dq=Mitzi+Hajos&pg=PA1079 "Modern Publishing Extends to Films"] Motography 15(May 13, 1916): 1079. She endorsed Mason & Hamlin Pianos in a 1919 advertisement.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wbcaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gkkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4576%2C4335938 Advertisement], Pittsburgh Press (March 13, 1919): 27. The child actress Mitzi Green was given her stage name after Mitzi Hajos in the 1920s.[https://books.google.com/books?id=HwsTAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22Mitzi+Green+Chooses+the+Los+Angeles+Limited%22&pg=RA12-PA17 "Mitzi Green Chooses the Los Angeles Limited"] Union Pacific Magazine (April 1932): 17. Hajos was drawn at least twice by Broadway illustrator Al Hirschfeld.Al Hirschfeld Foundation, artwork search, [http://www.alhirschfeldfoundation.org/search?form_build_id=form-9j5NMS75myZlRxrp2qsbFX05EvxdGJ7QJ2R4qRjbnLk&form_id=hirschfeld_search_searchform&keywords=Mitzi+Hajos&submit.x=0&submit.y=0 Mitzi Hajos].

In midlife, when roles became scarce and her husband was ill, Hajos worked as a secretary for The Shubert Organization.Shay Delcurla, [http://www.shubertarchive.org/pdf/passingshows/PS2006Final.pdf "Searching for Mitzi: The Life and Career of Mitzi Hajos from 1910 to 1970"] The Passing Show: Newsletter of the Shubert Archive 25(2006-2007): 2-18.

Mitzi Hajos was married to her frequent co-star Boyd Marshall from 1920[https://www.proquest.com/hnpnewyorktimes/docview/98228022/B533DED69D3840ACPQ/15 "Mitzi Hajos Weds Leading Man"] New York Times (May 22, 1920): 15. until he died in 1950. By that marriage, she became an American citizen.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6888197/mitzi_hajos_weds_becomes_us_citizen/ "Mitzi Hajos Weds Leading Man and Becomes American"] New York Herald (May 22, 1920): 9. via Newspapers.com{{open access}} She died in 1970 in Connecticut, aged 81 years. Her remains were buried in her husband's family's plot in Port Clinton, Ohio.

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{{commons category|Mitzi Hajos}}

• [https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/mitzi-hajos-14998 Mitzi Hajos listing] at IBDB
• {{Find a Grave|93205972}}
• [https://www.loc.gov/jukebox/artists/detail/id/6436/ Two audio recordings of Mitzi Hajos singing] in 1916, at the Library of Congress, National Jukebox

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Category:1889 births

Category:1970 deaths

Category:American stage actresses

Category:Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States