Though she was not an heiress in the traditional sense of directly inheriting the company. Born around the early 20th century, she married William Preston Williams, the brother of Tom Lyle Williams, who founded the Maybelline Company in 1915. Evelyn became deeply intertwined with the family dynasty behind the brand, playing a pivotal role both personally and symbolically in its legacy.
Evelyn grew up in Chicago as one of three daughters of a wealthy plumber, John Boucher, who provided his children with a refined upbringing filled with fine clothes and music lessons. She met Preston Williams during a Memorial Day parade in 1922, where she also encountered Tom Lyle. Her striking presence and charisma captivated Tom Lyle, who nicknamed her the "real Miss Maybelline" and used her as a muse for his advertising campaigns. A notable incident early in her connection to the company involved her dropping promotional flyers in the wind after a car backfired, leading to a newspaper photo captioned "Miss Maybelline Stops Traffic," which boosted Maybelline’s visibility.
Evelyn was a dynamic and ambitious woman—described as a 5'2" powerhouse with boundless energy and a fierce determination to elevate her family’s status. She focused intensely on her only child, William Preston "Bill" Williams Jr., forging a strong bond between him and Tom Lyle to secure their place within the Maybelline empire. This ambition, however, made her unpopular with some family members. Her life was marked by glamour and controversy, including a late marriage in 1974 at age 73 to a man 12 years her junior, against her son’s wishes, at the Balboa Bay Club.
In the 1970s, Evelyn moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas, where she reinvented herself as "Miss Maybelline, Last of the Red Hot Mamas," opening a dinner theater and embracing a flamboyant lifestyle alongside her companion, Danné Montague-King. Her story took a tragic turn in 1978 when she died in a mysterious fire at her home, an event some still consider an unsolved arson case linked to the theft of $3 million in bonds. Her granddaughter, Sharrie Williams, author of The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It, portrays her as a complex figure—a trailblazer ahead of her time who paid a steep price for her relentless pursuit of success and perfection.
Evelyn’s legacy is tied to the Maybelline narrative not through ownership but through her influence on its image and her dramatic life story, which reflects the brand’s rise and the family’s tumultuous journey.
