Lucy Cotton

Lucy Cotton (August 29, 1895 – December 12, 1948) was an American actress born in Houston, Texas, whose career spanned both stage and screen. She appeared in 12 films between 1910 and 1921 and performed on Broadway from 1916 to 1919.

Cotton relocated to New York City during her teenage years, where she secured her first Broadway role in the chorus of The Quaker Girl. In 1915, she took the stage at the Park Theatre in New York City in Polygamy. Her Broadway credits also include Turn to the Right! and the 1919 production of Up in Mabel's Room, in which she starred. Her film work began as early as 1910 with The Fugitive and continued through titles including Life Without Soul (1915), The Prodigal Wife (1918), The Broken Melody (1919), The Miracle of Love (1919), The Sin That Was His (1920), The Misleading Lady (1920), The Devil (1921), The Man Who (1921), and Whispering Shadows (1921).

Cotton's personal life attracted considerable press attention. In 1924, she married Edward Russell Thomas, publisher of the New York Morning Telegraph. Thomas died in July 1926, leaving behind an estate valued at $27 million as well as a daughter, Lucetta. Cotton subsequently entered several additional marriages: to Lytton Grey Ament from 1927 to 1930, to lawyer Charles Hann Jr. from 1931 to 1932, to William M. Magraw, president of Manhattan's Underground Installations Company, from 1932 to 1941, and finally to Georgian-Russian Prince Vladimir Eristavi-Tchitcherine, whom she wed on June 15, 1941, in a Russian Orthodox Church in New York City.

Cotton died in Miami Beach, Florida, on December 12, 1948. Her daughter, who later changed her name from Lucetta Cotton Thomas to Mary Frances Thomas, arranged for Cotton to be cremated in Miami. Her ashes were subsequently transported to New York City, where her funeral was held.