Marilyn Miller

Marilyn Miller (b. Mary Ellen Reynolds in Evansville, September 1, 1898 – d. April 7, 1936) – Singer, actress, and tap dancer. At the age of four, the Evansville-born Marilyn Miller got her start in showbiz as part of the Five Columbians (originally the Columbian Trio), a family vaudeville act based out of Findlay, Ohio. Although the Columbians traveled the U.S. and Europe for ten years, it was not until an appearance with Ziegfeld Follies in 1918 that Miller was transformed into a star. In the two years that followed, she retained her celebrity status in the Follies productions by dancing to Irving Berlin’s “Mandy” (1919) and then starring in Sally (1920), which ran for 570 shows at the New Amsterdam on 42^nd Street. In 1925, Miller became the highest paid performer on Broadway with her portrayal of a circus queen in Sunny by Kern and Hammerstein. (Kern also wrote the music for Sally.) From 1929 to 1931, she appeared in three films, which included Her Majesty Love with W.C. Fields and adaptations of Sally and Sunny. Throughout her stage career, she appeared opposite of Eddie Cantor, Will Rogers, and Fred Astaire. At the age of 37 – a few years after she attempted a Broadway comeback in 1933 – Miller died during a hospital stay that resulted from a nervous breakdown. While her death resulted from complications during surgery to her nasal passages, her declining health in her final years was related to alcohol dependency as well as chronic sinus infections.