Doris Eaton Travis

Doris Eaton Travis (March 14, 1904 – May 11, 2010) was a Broadway and film performer, dance instructor, and author. She was also the last surviving Ziegfeld girl.

Travis began performing onstage as a young child, and made her Broadway debut at the age of 13. A year later, in 1918, she joined entrepreneur Florenz Ziegfeld who founded the famed Ziegfeld Follies as the youngest Ziegfeld Girl ever cast in the show. She continued to perform in stage productions and silent films throughout the 1920s and early 1930s.

When her career in stage and screen declined, she started a second career as an Arthur Murray dance instructor and local television personality in Detroit. Her association with Arthur Murray lasted for three decades, during which time she rose through the ranks to own and manage a chain of nearly 20 schools. After retiring from her career with Arthur Murray, she went on to manage a horse ranch with her husband and returned to school, eventually earning several degrees.

In her later years, Travis had returned to the public eye. As the last surviving Ziegfeld Girl, she was featured in several books and documentaries about the Ziegfeld Follies and her other stage endeavors. Eaton Travis had also returned to the stage as a featured performer in benefit performances for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.