Stoddard, Eunice.

Eunice Stoddard, an actress and dancer, was an original member of the Group Theatre, a company formed in 1931 by Harold Clurman, Lee Strasberg, and Cheryl Crawford, dedicated to producing Broadway plays which explore social and moral issues, and to developing acting techniques that emphasize emotional realism and psychological depth.

The offspring of an affluent, culturally connected New York family, Eunice Stoddard briefly attempted a career in dance before switching to acting. In the late 1920's she enrolled in the American Laboratory Theatre, an innovative acting school based on the principles of the Moscow Art Theatre. There she met Harold Clurman, Lee Strasberg, and Stella Adler. In 1931, Stoddard was invited to join the newly formed Group Theatre in Connecticut to rehearse a role in their first production, Paul Green's THE HOUSE OF CONNELLY. Stoddard had roles in all of the Group's productions for the next two years, and in several others through 1935, including MEN IN WHITE, WAITING FOR LEFTY and TIL THE DAY I DIE. Her association with the Group ended in 1938 with a role in CASEY JONES, after which she left the theater.