Thais Lawton

Thais Lawton (June 18, 1879 – December 18, 1956) was an American stage and film actress whose career on the New York stage spanned four decades, from 1900 to 1940. Born Eugenia Thais Lawton in Louisville, Kentucky, she was the daughter of Joseph Eugene Lawton, who was English, and Caroline Thais Magrane, who was French. She was raised and educated in Louisville, and the actress Thais Magrane was her cousin. Early in her career she performed under both her first and middle names, but by approximately 1906 she had settled on Thais Lawton as her professional name.

Lawton built her reputation on the New York stage as a specialist in "adventuresses" and "villainesses," a distinction she embraced openly. When asked about her preference for such roles in 1923, she told a reporter that playing only nice heroines would become tiresome. Her stage career encompassed a wide range of productions, beginning with Lost River in 1900 and continuing through such works as The Second Mrs. Tanqueray in 1907, Strife, The School for Scandal, and Don in 1909, and The Witch, Brand, and The Thunderbolt in 1910. She appeared in Vanity Fair, The Piper, The Blue Bird, The Winter's Tale, and A Single Man in 1911, and took part in the outdoor pageant Caliban by the Yellow Sands in 1916. Her later credits included The Wandering Jew in 1921, The Exciters in 1922, Two Strangers from Nowhere and The Red Falcon in 1924, Napoleon in 1928, Philip Goes Forth in 1931, and Romantic Mr. Dickens in 1940, among many others. She was also a frequent and popular performer in San Francisco throughout her career.

Among her notable Broadway productions were The Masquerader in 1917, The Crimson Alibi in 1919, The Blue Flame in 1920, Jitta's Atonement in 1923, and Thumbs Down in 1923. In addition to her stage work, Lawton appeared in two silent films released in 1915, The Battle Cry of Peace and The Pardon.

In 1922, Lawton was driving when her car struck and killed a child who had run into the street; she was determined to bear no fault in the incident. She was married to Percy McDermott, though the marriage ended in divorce. Later in life she taught acting, and among her students was actress Marie Wallace. Lawton died on December 18, 1956, at the age of 78.