{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} '''The Eton Boys''', or '''The Four Eton Boys''',<ref name=":1" /> were an American all-male musical quartet from the St. Louis, Missouri area,<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 16, 1932 |title=Listening In |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tampa-times-listening-in/123287358/ |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=The Tampa Times |language=en-US |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> whose members were '''Art Gentry''', lead; '''Earl Smith''', tenor; '''Charles Day''', baritone; and '''Jack Day''', bass.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 21, 1933 |title=Secrets from the Broadcasting Studios |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-news-secrets-from-the-broadc/123287701/ |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=Buffalo Evening News |page=23 |language=en-US |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> "Incidentally, The Eton Boys never went to Eton College," write authors Scott MacGillivray and Ted Okuda; "the group's name is simply a musical reference ("Eton" is "note" spelled backwards)."<ref>Scott MacGillivray and Ted Okuda, ''The Soundies Book'', iUniverse, 2007, p. 85. ISBN 978-0-595-42060-5.</ref>

In the 1930s they headlined Broadway vaudeville shows,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=April 27, 1934 |title=Today's Success Story |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/orlando-evening-star-todays-success-sto/123287813/ |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=Orlando Evening Star |page=10 |language=en-US |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> frequently appeared in short musical films such as Vitaphone's Broadway Brevities and Paramount's animated Screen Songs, and often appeared on the CBS radio network.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WABC - New York - 869 (Columbia Network) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/morning-sentinel-wabc-new-york-869/123290952/ |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=Waterville Morning Sentinel |language=en-US |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

== History == They went to schools in the St. Louis area, and the two Day brothers entered show business first, as acrobats in a successful vaudeville act that played the Palace Theatre on Broadway nine times in one year.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=The Four Eton Boys |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Stations/IDX/Station-Miscellaneous-IDX/Radio-Personalities-1935-OCR-Page-0211.pdf |access-date=February 7, 2021 |website=Radio Personalities 1935 |page=210}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=June 8, 1932 |title=Quartettes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-journal-quartettes/123287548/ |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=The Courier-Journal |language=en-US |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> Art Gentry was once radio's youngest regular announcer and worked for KMOX,<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=February 16, 1932 |title=Anyway, May Breen Likes It |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-anyway-may-breen-l/123288118/ |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=The Brooklyn Citizen |page=14 |language=en-US |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and he is the grandfather of television personality Matt Lauer.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hirsch |first=Stephanie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=btU_uBDqKU0C |title=Mother Nurture: Life Lessons from the Mothers of America's Best and Brightest |date=2008-03-25 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-06-118920-3 |pages=159 |language=en}}</ref> Earl Smith left vaudeville for nightclub work in New York, and joined the Eton Boys there.

==Motion pictures== The Eton Boys also appeared in motion pictures, exclusively in New York. Their busiest years in movies were 1933 and 1934: they were featured in two-reel, 20-minute Vitaphone musical shorts; Max Fleischer's Screen Songs for Paramount; and one feature film produced by Universal in New York, ''Moonlight and Pretzels''.<ref>Karen Hollis, "They Say in New York", ''Picture Play'', Sept. 1933, p. 22.</ref>

The Screen Songs were animated cartoons, each showcasing a popular song. For example, ''Down by the Old Mill Stream'' (1933) had a hillbilly theme, with the animated characters harvesting apples for cider. Halfway through each cartoon, the Eton Boys would appear in live action and lead the audience in singing the title song, guided by the bouncing ball.

In 1941 the Eton Boys made their final film appearances, singing in 11 Soundies. These were short musical films produced in New York, especially for coin-operated "movie jukeboxes".<ref>MacGillivray and Okuda, p. 85.</ref>

==Later lives== The Eton Boys recorded for Victor Records in 1941.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Eton Boys |url=https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/100072/Eton_Boys |website=Discography of American Historical Recording |publisher=U.C. Santa Barbara, Regents of the University of California}}</ref> They completed their radio commitments for NBC and disbanded in 1943. Earl Smith continued to pursue a show-business career,<ref>''The 1944 Radio Annual'', The Radio Daily, 1944, p. 755.</ref> and Art Gentry sang in a radio series for World Transcription Service, "Songs of Our Times" (1948).<ref>''Variety''. Feb. 25, 1948, p. 35.</ref>

==Filmography== *''Frances Shelley and the Four Eton Boys'' (Vitaphone short, 1929)<ref>{{Cite web |title="Broadway Babies" At the Strand |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-broadway-babie/123288572/ |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |language=en-US |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> *''The Operator's Opera'' (Vitaphone short, 1933)<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 7, 1933 |title=Last of Dual Bills Opening Thursday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-news-last-of-dual-bills-open/123288804/ |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=Buffalo Evening News |language=en-US |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> *''Use Your Imagination'' (Vitaphone short, 1933) *''Sing 'Em Back Alive'' (1933) *''Moonlight and Pretzels'' (Universal feature film, 1933)<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 29, 1933 |title=Moonlight and Pretzels |pages=14 |work=Variety |url=https://archive.org/details/variety111-1933-08/page/n253/mode/2up |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> *''I Like Mountain Music'' (Screen Song, 1933) *''Down by the Old Mill Stream'' (Screen Song, 1933) *''She Reminds Me of You'' (Screen Song, 1933) *''Mirrors'' (Vitaphone short, 1934) *''The Gem of the Ocean'' (Vitaphone short, 1934)<ref name=":0" /> a musical short<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/885633/the-gem-of-the-ocean|title=The Gem of the Ocean|website=Turner Classic Movies}}{{dead link|date=December 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> *''A Great Idea'' (Mentone short, 1935) * ''Zero Girl'' (Vitaphone short, 1936) *''Rhythm Café'' (Nu-Atlas short, 1938)<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Webb |first=Graham |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cmDwDwAAQBAJ&q=charlie+day+eton+boys&pg=PA588 |title=Encyclopedia of American Short Films, 1926-1959 |date=July 13, 2020 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9781476681184 |pages=220, 456, 588 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

Soundies (all 1941):<ref>MacGillivray and Okuda, pp. 85-86.</ref> * ''My Gal Sal'' * ''I Want a Girl'' * ''They're Making Me All Over in the Army'' * ''My Little Girl'' * ''Old MacDonald Had a Farm'' * ''The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi'' (vocal chorus only) * ''Lily, Hot from Chile'' * ''Beer Barrel Polka'' * ''Jerk McGurk from Albuquerque'' * ''A Bicycle Built for Two'' * ''Sweet Adeline''

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://m.imdb.com/name/nm1669768/?ref_=m_tt_cl_t2 Eton Boys IMDb page] *[https://www.fleischerallstars.com/the-eton-boys.html Videos of their performances] Fleischer All Stars

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eton Boys}} Category:Vocal quartets Category:Musical groups from St. Louis Category:1930s American radio programs