Alice Eis
Alice Eis | |
|---|---|
Alice Eis in 1914 | |
| Born | Gertrude Alice Eis November 9, 1889 Dayton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | December 21, 1956 (age 67) Queens, New York, U.S. |
| Other names | Alice Eis French, Alice de Sevelinges |
| Occupation | Dancer |
| Notable work | The Vampire (1913) |
Gertrude Alice Eis (November 9, 1889 – December 21, 1956) was an American dancer who appeared on vaudeville programs, in London and Paris, and in one silent film, The Vampire (1913).
Early life and education
Eis was born in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of George Eis and Alice Eis. Her father left the family when Eis was three years old.[1]
Career
Stage
Eis was a dancer. Her Broadway credits included Wonderland (1905), Fascinating Flora (1907), and Nearly a Hero (1908). On the vaudeville stage, she was known for performing "daring" dances in revealing costumes,[2] with her partner, Bert French.[3][4]
"To call it a dance is a libel against the name of art," declared the New York Dramatic Mirror of the suggestive French and Eis act. The couple danced in London in 1910,[5][6] and at the Folies Bergère in Paris in 1911 and 1912. "Miss Eis wears as few clothes as the police will permit," reported a Los Angeles publication in 1914. "She is a serpentine creature, electrically alive from her hair to her bare toes, and she writhes with a sinuous grace that is as wonderful as it is repellent."[7]
In "The Dance of Fortune" (1913), Eis wore a costume that was mostly transparent, with "a startling display of bare legs," according to Variety.[8] In response to criticisms of her too-revealing costumes, Eis and French created a dance set in the Arctic, titled "The Lure of the North" (1915).[9] Their "Dance of the Temptress" (1915) was sea-themed and "spectacular", but possibly more pantomime than dance.[10] Eis and French headlined a Halloween-themed dance and pantomime performance at the Columbia Theatre in 1916.[11]
French left the stage to become a manager and producer; Eis danced with Joe Niemeyer in 1918.[12] She was billed as "formerly of French and Eis" when she performed a five-part dance act with a new partner, James Templeton, in 1919.[13][14] "Templeton's unison of motion with Miss Eis is accomplished with such skill that the shadow illusion is startling," wrote a San Francisco reviewer that year.[15]
Film
Eis and French appeared in the silent film The Vampire (1913), performing their "The Vampire Dance".[16] Her onscreen portrayal of a female vampire predated Theda Bara's in A Fool There Was (1915).[17]
Personal life
Eis hosted a dog show and garden party at her Annadale home in 1917.[18] She married her dance partner, choreographer Bert French, in 1917. They had three children, Richard, Elaine, and Barbara.[19] French died in 1924.[20] She married French-born businessman Jean de Sevelinges in 1925.[21] She died in 1956, at the age of 67, in Queens, New York.
References
- ^ "Search for Father Prompts Alice Eis to Become Actress". Salt Lake Herald. 1917-05-21. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-09-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Does the Vampire in Scant Attire; Alice Eis Furnishes Blase Broadway New Set of Thrills". Herald and Review. 1909-08-02. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-09-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Alice Eis, 'Vampire' at Mechanics' Fair, Tops Daring Dances". The San Francisco Call Bulletin. 1913-09-06. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-09-22 – via Newspapers,com.
- ^ "Savoy Acts Won Abroad; Majority of This Week's Artists Have Made Hits in Foreign Theatres". Atlantic City Gazette-Review. 1913-09-12. p. 9. Retrieved 2025-09-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Jones, David Annwn (2023-09-15). Vampires on the Silent Screen: Cinema’s First Age of Vampires 1897-1922. Springer Nature. p. 48. ISBN 978-3-031-38643-5.
- ^ "The Coming of the Vampire Dance". The Tatler (442): 290. December 15, 1909 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Theaters". Los Angeles Graphic: 14. 1914-05-16 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Rush (1913-01-17). "The Dance of Fortune (review)". Variety. 29 (7): 19 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "New Acts This Week: Alice Eis and Bert French, The Lure of the North (review)". Variety. 41 (2): 16. 1915-12-10 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "What is a Dance Anyhow?". Los Angeles Graphic: 8. 1915-02-20 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "At the Theaters". Reedy's Mirror. 25 (52): 886. December 29, 1916.
- ^ "New Acts This Week: Alice Eis and Joe Niemeyer". Variety. 50 (3): 15. 1918-03-15 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Palace Bill an Excellent Array; Alice Eis, Madame Sylva, Granville and Adler Scored". Dramatic Mirror. 80 (2104): 565. 1919-04-15 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Vaudeville: Alice Eis". The New York Clipper. 67 (9): 11. 1919-04-09 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Rivers, Walter A. (1919-09-22). "Orpheum Star Wins Mild Applause". The Bulletin. p. 9. Retrieved 2025-09-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Erdman, Andrew L. (2015-08-01). Blue Vaudeville: Sex, Morals and the Mass Marketing of Amusement, 1895-1915. McFarland. pp. 13, 120, 121. ISBN 978-1-4766-1329-1.
- ^ Golden, Eve (1996). Vamp: The Rise and Fall of Theda Bara. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-887322-00-3.
- ^ Lloyd, Freeman (November 1917). "Kennel News and Notes". Dogdom. 18 (9): 535.
- ^ "The Stage". The Brooklyn Citizen. 1922-08-21. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-09-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Obituary for Herbert C. French". Times Union. 1924-01-29. p. 16. Retrieved 2025-09-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ 1930 United States Census, via Ancestry.
External links
- Alice Eis at IMDb
- Alice Eis at the Internet Broadway Database
- "Scrapbook documenting the appearances of dancer Alice Eis and her partner Bert French", in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library Digital Collections
- "Alice Eis in 'Vampire Dance'", photograph in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library Digital Collections