Jeanne Eagels (1890-1929) was one of the greatest actresses of the early 20th Century. Open any comprehensive book on the Broadway stage or film of the 1920s and you will almost certainly see references to the "legendary Jeanne Eagels" and her death at age 39 from a drug overdose. What makes her legendary as an actress, however, is rarely described in depth. She is justifiably remembered for creating the character of Sadie Thompson, the floozy stranded in Pago Pago in the John Colton/Clemence Randolph play "Rain." This play ran on Broadway for over 648 performances, still one of the record holders for longevity 80 years later. During its Broadway run, Eagels missed only an estimated 18-28 performances, which testifies to her stamina, if not her commitment to acting. Nationwide, Eagels was seen in "Rain" by over 1 million theater-goers.

The objective of this website is to describe the substantial acting talent that makes Jeanne Eagels a legend to this day. While her legacy as a stage actress is now history, her four surviving film performances may be savored by those who are lucky enough to attend a rare screening. Two of her silent films are available on VHS.

Thank you for taking the time to view this site. I'll be updating this site occasionally, editing content and photos over time, so check back again. Unless otherwise noted, all photos are from my personal collection. For this reason, I have limited the size and sometimes the quality of the images on this website to prevent uncompensated electronic copying and sale of these images on eBay. Some of these images require some digitial 'cleaning', which I'm working on in my spare time.

I welcome your comments and any information you may have about Eagels, her career, or her family. Email your questions and comments to me (Philip Ituarte, Ph.D.) at jeanne_eagels@earthlink.net. I am a recent graduate of the Moving Image Archive Studies program (MIAS) at UCLA.



Copyright Philip Ituarte 2004, 2005, 2006