{{short description|American actress}} {{Infobox person | name = Hazel Dawn | image = Hazel Dawn on The Theatre cover, August 1914 (crop).jpg | caption = Dawn in 1914 | image_size = | birth_name = Henrietta Hazel Tout | birth_date = {{Birth date|1890|3|23|mf=y}} | birth_place = Ogden, Utah | death_date = {{death date and age|1988|8|23|1890|3|23|mf=y}} | death_place = New York City, New York | other_names = The Pink Lady | years_active = 1914–1931 | spouse = {{marriage| Charles Edward Gruwell | 1927 | 1941 | end= his death }} | children = 2 | relatives = Margaret Romaine (sister) }}
'''Hazel Dawn''' (born '''Henrietta Hazel Tout'''; March 23, 1890 – August 28, 1988) was an American stage, film and television actress, and violinist. She was born to a Mormon family in Utah, and studied music in Europe where her father was a missionary. Dawn rose to fame as the title character in Ivan Caryll's ''The Pink Lady'', which opened in 1911 on Broadway and ran for over 300 performances; it earned Dawn the eponymous nickname. She performed extensively on Broadway and began work in film in 1914, appearing in a total of 13 feature films. Dawn died at age 98 in New York City.
==Early life== Dawn was born Henrietta Hazel Tout{{sfn|Hunter|2013|p=234}} in Ogden, Utah, in 1890.{{sfn|Slide|2012|p=123}} She went to Wales with her family at the age of eight when her father served as a Mormon missionary there. Dawn studied violin and voice in London, Paris, and Munich.{{sfn|Slide|2012|p=123}} She especially was impressed by the attentiveness of teachers she studied under in Paris. Her sister, Nancy Tout, was an opera singer who sang with the Opéra-Comique in Paris.{{Citation needed |date=September 2024}}
==Career== ===Stage work=== Dawn met producer Ivan Caryll at a party in London. Caryll suggested the stage name Hazel Dawn, considering Tout to be "impossible". She met composer Paul Rubens, who offered her a part in ''Dear Little Denmark'' at the Prince of Wales Theatre (1909), where she made her theatrical debut. She then starred in ''The Balkan Princess'' in 1910 as Olga. She achieved great success with her performance in Caryll's Edwardian musical comedy ''The Pink Lady'' (1911).{{sfn|Slide|2012|p=124}} The show ran for a total of 316 performances on Broadway and then toured, making Dawn famous.<ref name=vanleer>{{cite web|url=https://www.deseret.com/1996/6/11/19247966/utah-actress-hazel-dawn-lit-up-the-stage-and-screen |work=Deseret News |author=Van Leer, Twila |title=Utah Actress Hazel Dawn Lit Up the Stage and Screen|date=11 June 1996|access-date=22 July 2017}}</ref> In the production, she introduced "My Beautiful Lady", which she sang and played on her violin. Subsequently, she was known as "The Pink Lady",<ref name=obit>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/31/obituaries/hazel-dawn-stage-actress-is-dead-at-98.html|work=The New York Times|title=Hazel Dawn, Stage Actress, Is Dead at 98|author=Fraser, C. Gerald|date=31 August 1988|access-date=24 July 2017}}</ref> and the Pink Lady cocktail may have been named for her.<ref name="Clarke">{{Cite book| title=Pseudonyms |author=Joseph F. Clarke|publisher=BCA|date=1977|page=48}}</ref>
She starred in the operetta ''The Debutante'' (1914) at the National Theater in Washington, D.C. under the management of John C. Fisher. Harry B. Smith wrote the book and play adaptation. The setting of the operetta is in London and Paris, and Dawn played a young American girl pursued by a nobleman who desires her fortune. In December, she appeared in ''The Debutante'' at the Knickerbocker Theatre in Washington.
Other shows in which Dawn appeared include ''The Great Temptations'', Avery Hopwood's ''Getting Gertie's Garter'' and ''The Demi-Virgin'', as well as vaudeville productions. Her last appearance on Broadway was in ''Wonder Boy'' (1931).<ref>{{IBDB name|37542|Hazel Dawn}}</ref>
She emerged from retirement in June 1948 to appear on stage with her daughter Hazel Dawn Jr. in a revival of Ruth Gordon’s play ''Years Ago ''at the Casino Theatre in Newport, Rhode Island.<ref>''The Billboard'', June 12, 1948, p.44</ref>
===Transition to film=== thumb|''Under Cover'' (1916) Dawn made her screen debut as Kate Shipley in ''One of Our Girls'' (1914), beginning her association with the Famous Players–Lasky film compan. Dawn followed with roles in ''Niobe'' (1915), ''Clarissa'' (1915), ''The Masqueraders'' (1915) and ''The Fatal Card'' (1915).{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}
Dawn played a detective in the comedic/romantic mystery film ''My Lady Incog'' (1916). In ''The Lone Wolf'' (1917), she acted with Bert Lytell in an adaptation of a novel by Louis Joseph Vance. Her last film credit was ''Devotion'' (1921).
==Personal life== Dawn married Charles Edward Gruwell, a mining engineer from Montana, in 1927. Gruwell was purported to be one of the richest men in the Western U.S.<ref name=obit/> The couple had two children, Dawn Gruwell and Charles E. Gruwell. Her daughter pursued a career as an actor and singer on film, television and Broadway under the name of Hazel Dawn Jr.<ref>{{IBDB name|530449|Hazel Dawn Jr.}}</ref> Following Gruwell's death in 1941, Dawn worked in the casting department of J. Walter Thompson advertising agency.<ref name=obit/> She retired in 1963.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}
Dawn was once the mascot of both the U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy at one of their annual football games.<ref name=obit/>
==Death== Dawn died at the home of her daughter in Manhattan in 1988 at age 98.<ref name=obit/>
==Legacy== Actress Ruth Gordon cited Dawn as her inspiration for becoming an actress.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/11/01/archives/going-home-to-history-at-80-ruth-gordon-recalls-her-side.html|work=The New York Times|title=Going Home to History at 80, Ruth Gordon Recalls 'Her Side'|date=1 November 1976|author=Gussow, Mel|page=82}}</ref> A 14-year-old Adele Astaire saw Dawn's performance in ''The Pink Lady'' and idolized her, thinking her to be "the most lovely, graceful creature" she had seen.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}
In 1953, Dawn was portrayed by Kay Williams in the film ''The Actress''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/27615|work=Turner Classic Movies|title=The Actress|access-date=22 July 2017|author=Soares, Emily}}</ref>
== Filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | 1914 || ''One of Our Girls'' || Kate Shipley || |- | 1915 || ''Niobe'' || Niobe || |- | 1915 || ''Gambier's Advocate'' || Clarissa || |- | 1915 || ''The Heart of Jennifer'' || Jennifer Hale || |- | 1915 || ''The Fatal Card'' || Margaret Marrable || |- | 1915 || ''The Masqueraders'' || Dulcie Larendie || |- | 1916 || ''My Lady Incog.'' || Nell Carroll || |- | 1916 || ''The Saleslady'' || Helen || |- |1916 || ''The Feud Girl'' || Nell Haddon, 'The Spitfire' || |- | 1916 || ''Under Cover'' || Ethel Cartwright || |- | 1917 || ''The Lone Wolf'' || Lucy Shannon || |- | 1917 || ''National Red Cross Pageant'' || || |- | 1921 || ''Devotion'' || Ruth Wayne || |- |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Works cited== *{{cite book|last=Hunter|first=James Michael|title=Mormons and Popular Culture: The Global Influence of an American Phenomenon. Literature, Art, Media, Tourism, and Sports|year=2013|volume=II|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-39167-5}} *{{cite book|last=Slide|first=Anthony|title=The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville|year=2012|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|isbn=978-1-617-03250-9}}
==Further reading== * {{cite news|publisher=Lincoln Daily Star |title=Hazel Dawn, Who Smiled Her Way to Fame, Soon to Appear in Another Play |date=January 2, 1916 |page=31}} * {{cite news|publisher=Mansfield, Ohio News |title=Stage and Screen |date=December 10, 1917 |page=4}} * {{cite news|work=The New York Times |title=American Girls In Paris |date=March 19, 1911 |page=X2}} * {{cite news|work=The New York Times |title=''The Little Cafe'' Has Big Hit Song |date=November 11, 1913 |page=13}} * {{cite news|work=The New York Times |title=''Debutante'' In September |date=June 28, 1914 |page=X9}} * {{cite news|work=The New York Times |title=London Theatre Co. Fails |date=August 27, 1915 |page=9}} * {{cite news|work=The New York Times |title=Hazel Dawn, Stage Actress, Is Dead at 98 |date=August 31, 1988 |page=D21}} * {{cite news|publisher=Woodland, California Democrat |title=Hazel Dawn's Portrayal Of Detective In ''My Lady Incog'' Very Clever|date=August 30, 1916 |page=6}}
==External links== {{commons category}} * {{IBDB name}} * {{IMDb name|0206008}} * [https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?utf8=%E2%9C%93&keywords=hazel+dawn Hazel Dawn] photo gallery NY Public Library Billy Rose Collection {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawn, Hazel}} Category:Latter Day Saints from Utah Category:American musical theatre actresses Category:American silent film actresses Category:American stage actresses Category:American television actresses Category:People from Ogden, Utah Category:American vaudeville performers Category:1890 births Category:1988 deaths Category:20th-century American actresses Category:Actresses from Utah Category:20th-century American violinists Category:Ziegfeld girls Category:American expatriate actresses Category:American expatriates in England Category:American expatriate actresses in Germany Category:American expatriate actresses in France Category:20th-century American women singers Category:Latter Day Saints from New York (state) Category:20th-century American singers