Eva Mylott

Who was Eva Mylott?

Eva Mylott was an Australian contralto opera singer.

Eva Mylott was born in Tuross Head, New South Wales, Australia. Her parents, Patrick Mylott, an importer of wine and spirits and his wife, Mary Heffernan, were immigrants from Ireland to Australia. Mylott became a protégé of Dame Nellie Melba and in 1902, she went to Europe with her to pursue an opera career outside of Australia.

On 17 June 1917 in New York, she married businessman John Hutton Gibson; they had two sons: Hutton Gibson in 1918 and Alexis Mylott Gibson.

Mylott died in 1920, aged 44, in Chicago, after slipping in the shower and injuring her neck, leaving two year old Hutton and infant Alexis in the care of her husband, who died thirteen years later.

Mylott was the paternal grandmother of the actor and film director Mel Gibson and was also related to the Australian pianist Tamara Anna Cislowska.