Eva Condon

Eva Condon was an actress of the Broadway stage and vaudeville, from the early to mid 20th century.

She resolved to pursue acting at the age of 16. Condon graduated from Hunter College before becoming an understudy in the John Drew Jr. company for several seasons. Her ambition was to excel in high comedy. Her first appearance was in Columbia, South Carolina in A Single Man. She portrayed a villainess in a Thais Lawton role.

Condon was in the cast of The Other Fellow at the Bijou Theater in November 1910. A farce in three acts, the play starred Thomas Jefferson and Josephine Victor. It was written by George Totten Smith. Condon played the role of Grace Tanner. She appeared in the comedy C.O.D. at the Gaiety Theater in 1912. Written by Frederic Chapin, the production was the work of John Cort. She joined Alison Skipworth in The Old Firm, presented by A.G. Delamater at the Harris Theater in February 1913.

Condon acted in Too Many Cooks at the 39th Street Theater in February 1914. This was her favorite theatrical production. Written by Frank Craven, the comedy featured its author in the part of the home builder. The following October she was in The Moneymakers at the Booth Theatre on Broadway. The play was written by Charles Klein who was once in the English army and helped protect Westminster Abbey.

Condon teamed with Jack Devereaux at the Colonial Theater in The Same Old Thing in January 1915. The script was written by Roi Cooper Megrue. The show was presented at the Bushwick, Brooklyn Theater in February. Roles in Spite Corner, Icebound, and The Best People preceded her work in The Guardsman. In this show she depicted Mamma at the Theatre Guild in April 1925. In February 1926 Condon participated in the Charles Bamfield Hoyt comedy, Move On. The cast included Ralph Bunker, Frances Pitt, and Claude Cooper. The venue was the 63rd Street Theater.

Strange Interlude, a nine-act, Pulitzer Prize winning play by Eugene O'Neill, was presented at the Theatre Guild on April 28, 1930. Condon was in the company which brought the work to the stage. Other key performers were Ralph Morgan, Frank Conroy, and Ethel Westley. The production was approximately six hours from start to finish.

At the American Theater in St. Louis, Missouri Condon was with a troupe which performed You Can't Take It With You in November 1938. She had the role of Penny, the playwriting mother. Clarence Oliver headed a cast which was replete with some of Broadway's best actors.

Higher and Higher, produced by Rogers and Hart, played on Broadway in April 1940. Condon was among the players. Two highlights were the appearances of Marta Eggert, who had starred in German language films, and Hollywood singer Shirley Ross.

In 1949 Condon appeared in The Closing Door, a play penned by Alexander Knox, and produced by Cheryl Crawford. The principal character has a troubled mind. He transfers his resentment for his brother to his teenage son. and murder is a part of the plot. Condon, Richard Derr, Doris Nolan, and Knox give fine performances.

She appeared with Katharine Cornell and Tyrone Power in The Dark Is Light Enough. The program was successful in London and ten cities of the United States, priot to debuting on Broadway in February 1955.

In vaudeville Condon paired with Florence Nash. In motion pictures she performed with Madge Kennedy.

References

• "Editorial Notes". Denton Journal. April 26, 1930. p. 4.
• "Another Prize Winning Play At American In St. Louis Nov. 6". Edwardsville Intelligencer. October 31, 1910. p. 10.
• "Kit Cornell, Power Team In Fry Drama". Los Angeles Times. February 26, 1955. p. 15.
• "Varied Offerings For First-Nighters". New York Times. October 30, 1910. p. X1.
• "Theatrical Notes". New York Times. October 29, 1912. p. 13.
• "Theatrical Notes". New York Times. January 23, 1913. p. 11.
• "Shakespeare's Thriller Lost In A Year Of Thrills". New York Times. February 22, 1914. p. X6.
• "The First Night Calendar". New York Times. October 4, 1914. p. 65.
• "Topping The Vaudeville Bills". New York Times. January 17, 1915. p. X7.
• "Brooklyn Amusements". New York Times. February 7, 1915. p. X5.
• "Who's Who". New York Times. April 19, 1925. p. X2.
• "Daly's To Present Move On". New York Times. January 15, 1926. p. 18.
• "Up And Down Broadway". New York Times. April 25, 1940. p. 6.
• "Closing Door Is A Tense Melodrama". Syracuse Herald Journal. December 2, 1949. p. 52.