When Doris Eaton was born on March 14, 1904, the average American could expect to live 47 years. Today, at 103, the blue-eyed dancer has already lived more than two of these life spans. You can meet Doris, the last living original Ziegfield girl, at a press conference at the Park Central Hotel on Friday 18 January at 10:30 am, and as the Grand Marshall for the Light Up the Drive parade at 7:30 pm, running along Ocean Drive from 6th to 13th streets.

Doris grew up in a small town - Portsmouth, Virginia. Her sister Evelyn was the first child, and when she was about seven or eight years old, Doris' Aunt Rose, who loved the theater, took Evelyn to the theater, and she was hooked. From then on she was always asking Aunt Rose to take her again. As time went on, her mother had more and more children, and Evelyn spent much of her time preparing the younger kids for the stage as a way of helping out around the house.

Doris started out her professional dancing career at age 14. In 1918 she was the youngest to kick up a pair of legs in the feathered chorus line of Florenz Ziegfeld's annual Follies stage spectacular. For her 100th birthday in 2004, Doris was back on the same Broadway stage, in black taffeta skirt and silver heels, leading a conga line of a dozen dancers.

By the time she received her honorary doctorate at age 101, Doris had starred in silent and talking pictures, performed for presidents and princesses, bantered with Babe Ruth, offended Henry Ford, outlived six siblings, wrote a newspaper column, hosted a television show, earned a degree in history (at 88), raised turkeys, and raced horses.

At a time when many young boys would lie about their age to serve in the army, 14-year-old Doris Eaton lied about her age to work on The Ziegfeld Follies of 1918. She is the youngest person ever to hold that legendary job title "Ziegfeld Girl" and today, at 104 years of age, Doris Eaton is the oldest living American girl to be glorified in those legendary Broadway revues. She has shared the stage with the likes of W.C. Fields, Fannie Brice and Eddie Cantor

Doris' sister, Pearl, was the first of the Eatons to be hired by Ziegfeld, appearing in the Follies when she was eighteen years old. She then became an assistant dance director for Ned Wayburn and later in Hollywood, first for RKO studios, working with Hermes Pan.

When Doris accompanied Pearl to a rehearsal, dance supervisor Ned Wayburn spotted her and hired her for a role in the summer touring company of the 1918 Follies.

The same day she finished the eighth grade, Doris began rehearsals for the Follies. To circumvent child labor laws and the attention of the Gerry Society, she performed under the stage names "Doris Levant" (actually her young niece's name) and "Lucille Levant." As soon as she turned sixteen, she began using her real name again. Wayburn was one of only a few people who were aware of her true age, and arranged for her mother to accompany her on the Follies tour as a paid member of the company.

Eaton Travis would associate with Ziegfeld for several years, appearing in the 1918, 1919 and 1920 editions of the Ziegfeld Follies and the 1919 Midnight Frolics. She was Marilyn Miller (the star)'s understudy. Doris Eaton was not the only member of the Eaton family to prosper in the show: by 1922, Mary, Pearl, Doris, Joe and ten-year old Charlie had all performed in one edition of the Follies or another. Doris Eaton made her motion picture debut, aged 17, in the 1921 romantic drama At the Stage Door opposite silent film star Billie Dove.

Doris' last appearance with the Follies was the 1920 edition. Her career flourished in the 1920s and early 1930s: she made a number of silent films, including Tell Your Children with director Donald Crisp in England and Egypt; performed in five different Broadway shows and danced in the Hollywood Music Box Revue and the Gorham Follies in Los Angeles and the Hollywood Club in New York.

In 1925, the Eatons were at the height of the New York musical-theater world - all of them were performing on Broadway. Doris was in a play called The Sap, her sister Mary was in Kid Boots, and other sister Pearl was in Annie Dear with Billie Burke. At one point there were five members of the Eaton family on Broadway at the same time.

While in the Hollywood Music Box Revue, Travis premiered two important songs, both composed by Nacio Herb Brown: Singin' in the Rain and The Doll Dance. Doris was the lyricist for the latter song, but did not receive due credit.

At eighteen, Doris Eaton married Joe Gorham, who was twice her age, the producer of the Gorham Follies. The marriage was opposed by the Eaton family, and quickly regretted by the young Doris when Gorham revealed a cruel and abusive nature. The union lasted less than a year, ending when Gorham died of a heart attack.

Doris performed in her final Broadway show, Page Pygmallion at the Bijou Theatre in 1932. Her career, along with those of her siblings, declined in the 1930s. She returned to work in stock theatrical productions on Long Island and had a brief, albeit unsuccessful, foray into vaudeville with her brother Charlie.

In 1936, Doris was hired by the Arthur Murray Dance Studios in New York as a tap dance instructor. She remained with the Arthur Murray company for 32 years, advancing from teaching to owning her own school. Eventually Doris established and owned a total of 18 Arthur Murray studios across Michigan. She authored a column of dance advice and commentary for the Detroit News entitled "On Your Toes" and appeared in local television programs.

One of Doris' pupils, inventor and engineer Paul Travis, would eventually become her husband. After retiring from the dance studio business in 1968, Eaton Travis and her husband moved to Norman, Oklahoma, and established a ranch. The initial 220-acre plot grew to 880 acres, and many of the quarter-horses bred and raised on the ranch had success in racing.