Toni Mannix
Toni Lanier Mannix (born Camille Bernice Froomess; February 19, 1906 – September 2, 1983) was an American actress and dancer in early motion pictures filmed with soundtracks, known as "talkies". Going by the name Toni Lanier, she became known in Hollywood circles for her extramarital relationship with future husband MGM studio head Eddie Mannix, who was married at the time to Bernice Fitzmaurice. Following Fitzmaurice's death in 1937, Lanier moved in with Mannix. The couple married in 1951. It was not long after her marriage to Mannix that she began a notorious affair with actor George Reeves, also in 1951. Early life Mannix was born Camille Bernice Froomess on February 19, 1906 in New York City. Her father, Charles, was a French immigrant, and her mother, Elizabeth, was a French Canadian Roman Catholic. The large family would ultimately include 11 children: seven boys and four girls. The children were raised in their mother's faith. Mannix's father was a department store window decorator in Rochester, New York, and her mother was a homemaker. Career For a time, Mannix was a Ziegfeld Follies showgirl and appeared in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer biography of Florenz Ziegfeld's life, The Great Ziegfeld (1936). Personal life As Toni