Eddie Foy

Actor and dancer, born in New York City, New York, USA. He started dancing in saloons as a child to support his family, then added a blackface routine as a teenager for circuses and minstrel shows. On the Western circuit for years, he achieved success in costume fantasies before returning home to Broadway (1901). In 1903 he was appearing at Chicago's Iroquois Theatre when fire broke out, and although he did his best to calm the audience, 602 died in the panic that ensued. Known for his facial expressions and pantomime, he achieved his greatest success with The Seven Little Foys (1910–23), a vaudeville act featuring his seven children.

Born in Greenwich Village, New York Foy had seven children, and they sometimes performed with him as "The Seven Little Foys." Bob Hope portrayed Foy in a feature film called The Seven Little Foys (1955), while Eddie Foy, Jr., portrayed Foy, Sr., in the George M. Foy is notable as a survivor of the December 30, 1903 fire that erupted in the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois, claiming the lives of 602 people.

Eddie Foy was saved by Wyatt Earp in Dodge City. Outside, he found a shaken comedian, Eddie Foy, huddled in an alley while fellow actor Charles Chapin was taking pot shots at Foy for stealing his girl.

Foy also was a friend of Doc Holliday in Dodge.

Eddie Foy died from a heart attack in Kansas City, Missouri, while he was on a farewell tour at the age of 72.