Sally Eilers

{{Infobox person

| name = Sally Eilers

| image = Sally Eilers Photoplay133.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Eilers in 1933

| birth_name = Dorothea Sally Eilers

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1908|12|11|mf=yes}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1978|01|05|1908|12|11|mf=yes}}

| death_place = Woodland Hills, California, U.S.

| resting_place = Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California

| occupation = Actress

| years_active = 1927–1950

| spouse = {{Plainlist|

{{marriage|Hoot Gibson|1930|1933|reason=divorced}}
{{marriage|Harry Joe Brown|1933|1943|reason=divorced}}
{{marriage|Howard Barney|1943|1946|reason=divorced}}
{{marriage|Hollingsworth Morse|1949|1958|reason=divorced}}

}}

| children = 1

}}

Dorothea Sally Eilers{{cite book|last1=Walker|first1=Brent E.|title=Mack Sennett's Fun Factory: A History and Filmography of His Studio and His Keystone and Mack Sennett Comedies, with Biographies of Players and Personnel|date=2013|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786477111|page=501|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x_icAwAAQBAJ&q=%22Dorothea+Sally+Eilers+%22&pg=PA501|accessdate=February 28, 2018|language=en}} (December 11, 1908 – January 5, 1978) was an American actress.

Early life

Eilers was born in New York City to a Jewish-American mother, Paula (or Pauline) Schoenberger, and a German-American father, Hio Peter Eilers (an inventor).{{cite book|title=Hollywood Players: The Thirties|author1=Parish, J.R.|author2=Leonard, W.T.|date=1976|publisher=Arlington House|isbn=9780870003653|url=https://archive.org/details/hollywoodplayers00pari|url-access=registration|accessdate=November 23, 2014}} She had one sibling, a brother, Hio Peter Eilers Jr. When Eilers was young, she moved to Los Angeles with her parents, and in 1927 she graduated from Fairfax High School.{{cite news|title=How They Broke Into the Movies: Sally Eilers|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17883269/sally_eilers/|work=Ames Daily Tribune|date=June 15, 1935|location=Iowa, Ames|page=5|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = February 28, 2018}} {{Open access}}

Career

She made her film debut in 1927 in The Red Mill,{{cite news|title=Historiette|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17883567/sally_eilers/|work=Chicago Tribune|date=May 15, 1932|location=Illinois, Chicago|page=64|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = February 28, 2018}} {{Open access}} directed by Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. After several minor roles as an extra, in 1927–1928 she found work with Mack Sennett as one of his "flaming youth" comedians in several comedy short subjects, along with Carole Lombard, who had been a school friend. In 1928, she was chosen as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars, a yearly list of young actresses selected for having "shown the most promise during the past 12 months."{{cite news|title=13 Lucky Girls Of Filmland Given Boost To Fame And Fortune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17883857/the_times_herald/|work=The Times-Herald|date=January 27, 1928|location=Michigan, Port Huron|page=20|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = February 28, 2018}} {{Open access}}

Eilers was a popular figure in early-1930s Hollywood, known for her high spirits and vivacity. Her films were mostly comedies and crime melodramas such as Quick Millions (1931) with Spencer Tracy and George Raft. By the end of the decade, her popularity had waned, and her subsequent film appearances were few. She made her final film appearance in Stage to Tucson (1950).{{cite book|last1=Monush|first1=Barry|title=Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the silent era to 1965|date=2003|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=9781557835512|pages=217–218|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=toTIb1Ek2WwC&q=%22Dorothea+Sally+Eilers+%22&pg=PA217|accessdate=March 2, 2018|language=en}}

Personal life

File:Sally Eilers and Hoot Gibson, 1951 (cropped).jpg in 1951]]

She was married four times, beginning with Western actor Hoot Gibson.{{cite news|title=Hoot Gibson Weds Miss Sally Eilers|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8376732/lebanon_daily_news/|work=Lebanon Daily News|agency=Associated Press|date=June 28, 1930|location=Pennsylvania, Lebanon|page=10|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = January 15, 2017}} {{Open access}} She and her second husband, Harry Joe Brown, had one child, a son, Harry Joe Brown Jr. (1934–2006).{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/28/nyregion/harry-joe-brown-jr-71-innovative-developer-dies.html|title=Harry Joe Brown Jr., 71, Innovative Developer, Dies - NYTimes.com|work=The New York Times |date=May 29, 2015|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529194540/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/28/nyregion/harry-joe-brown-jr-71-innovative-developer-dies.html|archivedate=May 29, 2015 |last1=Martin |first1=Douglas }} She lived in a mansion in Beverly Hills, CaliforniaVictoria Talbot, 'Beverly Hills Cultural Heritage Commission Splits 2 To 2 on Mountain Drive Landmark Vote', The Beverly Hills Courier, October 3, 2014, Vol. XXXXVIIII, No. 39, p. 4 designed by architect Paul R. Williams. Eilers was a Democrat who supported Adlai Stevenson's campaign during the 1952 presidential election.Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers Like her mother, Eilers adhered to Judaism.{{cite web|url=https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=JPOST19360821-01.1.3|title=Jewish Post 21 August 1936 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program|website=newspapers.library.in.gov}}

Death

During her final years, Eilers suffered poor health, and died from a heart attack on January 5, 1978, in Woodland Hills, California, at the age of 69. She was cremated and her remains were interred in a small niche in the Freedom Mausoleum, Columbarium of Understanding, Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale, California.[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZraJCgAAQBAJ&dq=sally+eilers+forest+lawn&pg=PA48 Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries]