Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.

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Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. (Template:IPAc-en; March 21, 1867 – July 22, 1932) was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies (1907–1931), inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He also produced the musical Show Boat. He was known as the "glorifier of the American girl".<ref name=obit/> Ziegfeld is a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life

Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. was born on March 21, 1867,<ref name="Mordden"/>Template:Rp in Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Rosalie (née de Hez), who was born in Belgium, was the grandniece of General Count Étienne Maurice Gérard.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Hester, Heather. "Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.." In Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present, vol. 4, edited by Jeffrey Fear. German Historical Institute. Last modified November 13, 2014.</ref> His father, Florenz Edward Ziegfeld, was a German immigrant whose father was the mayor of Jever in Friesland. Ziegfeld was baptized in his mother's Roman Catholic church. His father was Lutheran.<ref name="Mordden">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp As a child Ziegfeld witnessed the Chicago fire of 1871.

Career

The Sandow Trocadero Vaudevilles (poster), produced by Ziegfeld, (1894)

His father ran the Chicago Musical College and later opened a nightclub, the Trocadero, to profit from the 1893 World's Fair.<ref name=john>Kenrick, John. "Florenz Ziegfeld: A Biography", Musicals 101; accessed January 13, 2011</ref> To help his father's nightclub succeed, Ziegfeld hired and managed the strongman Eugen Sandow.<ref name=john/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In London, during a trip to Europe, Ziegfeld met Anna Held, a Polish-French singer of Jewish descent.<ref name="snac-99166">Template:Cite web</ref> His promotion of Held in America brought about her meteoric rise to national fame.<ref>Eve Golden (reviewed by Margaret Van Dagens). "Book review, Anna Held And The Birth Of Ziegfeld's Broadway, New York Times, May 14, 2000.</ref><ref name="NYT Held Obit"/> It was Held who first suggested an American imitation of the Parisian Folies Bergère to Ziegfeld.<ref name=john/><ref>Cambridge Guide to the American Theatre, (New York: Cambridge UP, 1995) p. 511 Template:ISBN?</ref> Her success in a series of his Broadway shows, especially A Parisian Model (1906), was a major reason for his starting a series of lavish revues in 1907.<ref name=pbs>"Florenz Ziegfeld biography" Template:Webarchive, pbs.org, accessed January 13, 2011.</ref> Much of Held's popularity was due to Ziegfeld's creation of publicity stunts and rumors fed to the American press.

Ziegfeld's stage spectaculars, known as the Ziegfeld Follies, began with Follies of 1907, which opened on July 7, 1907,<ref>Vlastnik, Frank; Bloom, Ken. "Ziegfeld Follies of 1919" Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time, Black Dog Publishing, 2010; Template:ISBN, p. 332</ref> and were produced annually until 1931.<ref name=green>Green, Stanley. "Florenz Ziegfeld" Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre, Da Capo Press, 1980; Template:ISBN, pp. 463–464</ref> These extravaganzas, with elaborate costumes and sets, featured beauties chosen personally by Ziegfeld in production numbers choreographed to the works of prominent composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Jerome Kern.<ref name=obit/> The Follies featured the famous Ziegfeld girls, female chorus dancers who wore elaborate costumes and performed in synchronization.

The Follies featured many performers who, though well known from previous work in other theatrical genres, achieved unique financial success and publicity with Ziegfeld. Included among these are Nora Bayes, Fanny Brice, Ruth Etting, W. C. Fields, Eddie Cantor, Marilyn Miller, Will Rogers, Bert Williams and Ann Pennington.<ref name=green/>

File:FlorenzZiegfeldJrByRalphBarton.jpg
Caricature by Ralph Barton, 1925

At a cost of $2.5 million, Ziegfeld built the 1600-seat Ziegfeld Theatre on the west side of Sixth Avenue between 54th and 55th Streets. Designed by Joseph Urban and Thomas W. Lamb, the auditorium was egg-shaped, with the stage at the narrow end. A huge medieval-style mural, The Joy of Life, covered the walls and ceiling.<ref>Innes, C.D. "Chapter: Stage and Screen", Designing modern America: Broadway to Main Street, Yale University Press, 2005; Template:ISBN, pp. 60–62.</ref> To finance the construction, Ziegfeld borrowed from William Randolph Hearst,<ref name=billie>Hayter-Menzies, Grant. "Chapter 18. The Great Ziegfeld" Mrs. Ziegfeld: The Public and Private Lives of Billie Burke, McFarland, 2009; Template:ISBN, pp. 114, 159</ref> who took control of the theater after Ziegfeld's death.

The Ziegfeld Theatre opened in February 1927 with Ziegfeld's production of Rio Rita, which ran for nearly 500 performances. This was followed by Show Boat,<ref name=pbs/> a great hit with a run of 572 performances.<ref name=john/><ref>Green, Stanley. "Chapter: Jerome Kern" The World of Musical Comedy (4th ed.), Da Capo Press, 1984; Template:ISBN, p. 62</ref> This musical, which concerned racial discrimination in the South during the late nineteenth century, was a collaboration between Ziegfeld, Urban, and composer Jerome Kern. The musical has been revived four times on Broadway, winning multiple Tony Awards. The score features several classics such as "Ol' Man River" and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Ziegfeld lost much of his money in the stock market crash. In May 1932 he staged a revival of Show Boat that ran for six months—a hit, by Depression standards.<ref>Jones, John Bush. "The Depression Hits Broadway", Our Musicals, Ourselves: A Social History of the American Musical Theater, UPNE, 2003, Template:ISBN, p. 82</ref> That same year, he brought his Follies stars to CBS Radio with The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air.<ref name="Dunning">Template:Cite book</ref>

Personal life

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Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. in 1904

In 1896, Ziegfeld met Anna Held, an actress, in London.<ref name="loc.gov/in-history/03-21">Template:Cite web</ref> Ziegfeld and Held began a common-law marriage in 1897, and she divorced him in 1913, according to her obituary in The New York Times dated August 13, 1918.<ref name="NYT Held Obit">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Mordden"/>Template:Rp Held served Ziegfeld with divorce papers on April 14, 1912, and their divorce became final on January 9, 1913.<ref name="Mordden"/>Template:Rp Held had submitted testimony about Ziegfeld's relationship with another woman.<ref>Golden, Eve "Chapter: The Unchastened Woman". Anna Held and the Birth of Ziegfeld's Broadway, University Press of Kentucky, 2000; Template:ISBN, pp. 160–61</ref> The unnamed party in this romantic triangle was showgirl Lillian Lorraine, an entertainer of limited talent but charismatic stage presence and beauty whom Ziegfeld discovered in 1907 when she was a 15-year-old performer in a Shubert production. Ziegfeld spent years promoting her career, transforming her into one of the most popular attractions in his Follies<ref name="Hanson">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp and establishing her in an apartment two floors above the residence he shared with Held. He remained in love with Lorraine for the rest of his life.<ref name="Hanson"/>Template:Rp

Not long after his divorce from Held, Ziegfeld married actress Billie Burke on April 11, 1914. They had met at a New Year's Eve party.<ref name=obit/><ref name="nytimes-burke-weds-ziegfeld">Template:Cite news</ref> They had one child, Patricia Ziegfeld Stephenson (1916–2008). The family lived on his estate in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, and in Palm Beach, Florida.<ref name=jn>Template:Cite news</ref> Ziegfeld died in Hollywood, California on July 22, 1932, from pleurisy, related to a previous lung infection.<ref name=obit/> He had been in Los Angeles only a few days after moving from a New Mexico sanitarium.<ref name=obit>Template:Cite news</ref> His death left Burke with substantial debts, driving her toward film acting to settle them.<ref name=billie/> She died on May 14, 1970. He and Burke are interred in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

Accolades

Ziegfeld was elected to the American Theatre Hall of Fame.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Broadway theatre productions

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Broadway theatre productions
Date Title Notes
1896 Template:Sortname Herald Square Theatre<ref name="NYT Held Obit"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1898 Template:Sortname Herald Square Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1898 Way Down East Manhattan Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1898 Template:Sortname Manhattan Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1899 Mlle. Fifi Manhattan Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1899 Template:Sortname Manhattan Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1899–1900 Papa's Wife Manhattan Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1901–1902 Template:Sortname Casino Theatre, Grand Opera House<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1903–1904 Red Feather Lyric Theatre, Grand Opera House<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1903–1904 Mam'selle Napoleon Knickerbocker Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1904–1905 Higgledy-Piggledy Weber and Fields' Broadway Music Hall<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1905 Higgledy-Piggledy Weber and Fields' Broadway Music Hall<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1906–1907 Template:Sortname Broadway Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1907 Follies of 1907 Jardin de Paris, Liberty Theatre, Grand Opera House<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1908 Template:Sortname Broadway Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1908 Template:Sortname New York Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1908 Follies of 1908 Jardin de Paris, New York Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1908–1909 Miss Innocence New York Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1909 Follies of 1909 Jardin de Paris<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1909 Miss Innocence New York Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1910 Follies of 1910 Jardin de Paris<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1911 Ziegfeld Follies of 1911 Jardin de Paris<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1912 Over the River Globe Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1912 Template:Sortname Moulin Rouge<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1912–1913 Ziegfeld Follies of 1912 Moulin Rouge<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1913 Ziegfeld Follies of 1913 Moulin Rouge<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1914 Ziegfeld Follies of 1914 New Amsterdam Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1915 Ziegfeld Follies of 1915 New Amsterdam Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1916 Ziegfeld Follies of 1916 New Amsterdam Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1916–1917 Template:Sortname Century Theatre<ref name="The Century Girl">Template:Cite web</ref>
1917 Dance and Grow Thin Cocoanut Grove Theatre<ref name="The Century Girl"/>
1917 Ziegfeld Follies of 1917 New Amsterdam Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1917 Template:Sortname Hudson Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1917–1918 Miss 1917 Century Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1917–1918 Template:Sortname Cocoanut Grove Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1918 Ziegfeld Follies of 1918 New Amsterdam Theatre, Globe Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1918 Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic Ziegfeld Roof<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1918 By Pigeon Post George M. Cohan's Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1919 Ziegfeld Follies of 1919 New Amsterdam Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1919 Ziegfeld Nine O'Clock Review New Amsterdam Theatre Roof<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1919 Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic Danse de Follies<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1919 Caesar's Wife Liberty Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1919–1920 Elsie Janis and Her Gang George M. Cohan's Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1920 Ziegfeld Girls of 1920 Danse de Follies<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1920 Ziegfeld Follies of 1920 New Amsterdam Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1920–1922 Sally New Amsterdam Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1921 Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic Ziegfeld Roof<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1921 Ziegfeld 9 O'Clock Frolic Danse de Follies<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1921 Ziegfeld Follies of 1921 Globe Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1921–1922 Template:Sortname Henry Miller's Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1921–1922 Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic Danse de Follies<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1922 Ziegfeld Follies of 1922 New Amsterdam Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1922–1923 Rose Briar Empire Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1923 Ziegfeld Follies of 1923 New Amsterdam Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1923 Sally New Amsterdam Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1923–1924 Ziegfeld Follies of 1923 New Amsterdam Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1923–1925 Kid Boots Earl Carroll Theatre, Selwyn Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1924–1925 Ziegfeld Follies of 1924 New Amsterdam Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1924–1925 Annie Dear Times Square Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1925 Louis the 14th Cosmopolitan Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1925 Ziegfeld Follies of 1925 New Amsterdam Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1926 No Foolin' Globe Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1926–1927 Betsy New Amsterdam Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1927–1928 Rio Rita Ziegfeld Theatre, Lyric Theatre, Majestic Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1927–1928 Ziegfeld Follies of 1927 New Amsterdam Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1927–1929 Show Boat Ziegfeld Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1928 Rosalie Ziegfeld Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1928 Template:Sortname Lyric Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1928–1929 Whoopee! New Amsterdam Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1929 Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic Frolic Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1929 Show Girl Ziegfeld Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1929–1930 Bitter Sweet Ziegfeld Theatre, Shubert Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1930 Simple Simon Ziegfeld Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1930–1931 Smiles Ziegfeld Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1931 Ziegfeld Follies of 1931 Ziegfeld Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1932 Hot-Cha! Ziegfeld Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1932 Show Boat Casino Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Films

Ziegfeld appears in a sound prologue to the 1929 film, Show Boat—a part-talkie based on Edna Ferber's 1926 novel, not the popular stage adaptation that was still playing on Broadway when the film was released. Universal Pictures originally made Show Boat as a silent, and obtained the rights to the popular Broadway score after the film was shot. The 18-minute prologue is introduced by Ziegfeld and producer Carl Laemmle, and features excerpts from the stage production performed by cast members Jules Bledsoe, Tess Gardella, Helen Morgan and the Broadway chorus.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Universal Story">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Two subsequent adaptations of Show Boat, in 1936 and 1951, were based on the stage musical.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Technicolor screen versions of three of Ziegfeld's stage musicals were produced in the early sound film era. RKO Pictures had its first hit with its lavish presentation of Rio Rita (1929), starring Bebe Daniels and John Boles.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Marilyn Miller reprised one of her greatest stage successes in Sally (1929).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Eddie Cantor reprised his popular Broadway role in Whoopee! (1930), which Ziegfeld himself produced with Samuel Goldwyn.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Cultural references

File:Great-Ziegfeld-1936-Poster.jpg
Poster for The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

In 1936 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released a semi-biographical film extravaganza, The Great Ziegfeld, starring William Powell. He was personally chosen for the role by Billie Burke, who felt that while Powell did not physically resemble her late husband, he possessed the right manner. "What I tried to do primarily was to get across the essential spirit of the man", Powell later said, "his love for show business, his exquisite taste, his admiration for the beauty of women. He was financially impractical but aesthetically impeccable—a genius in his chosen field."<ref name="Quirk">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Nominated for seven Academy Awards, The Great Ziegfeld received Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actress (Luise Rainer as Anna Held), and Best Dance Direction (Seymour Felix), for the astonishingly opulent production number, "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody"—one of the most famous musical sequences ever filmed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was MGM's most expensive production since Ben-Hur (1925), and it made back twice its cost.<ref name="MGM Story">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

Released by MGM ten years later, Ziegfeld Follies (1946) was an all-star revue that includes Powell in a cameo role as Ziegfeld.<ref name="Quirk"/>Template:Rp<ref name="MGM Story"/>Template:Rp A 1978 NBC-television film, Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women, stars Paul Shenar as Ziegfeld. Directed by Buzz Kulik, the three-hour biopic<ref> Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Berard, Jeanette M.; Corwin, Norman; Englund, Klaudia. "Specials", Television Series and Specials Scripts, McFarland, 2009; Template:ISBN, p. 425</ref> was nominated for seven Emmy Awards and received the award for Outstanding Cinematography (Gerald Finnerman).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Ziegfeld appears as a character in a number of films:

In the Broadway musical Crazy For You (1992), the character Bela Zangler is a fictionalised version of Ziegfeld, having his own "Zangler's Follies" and his character being driven by a love for the young folly Tess despite being married, much like Ziegfeld's own affair with Lillian Lorraine. In The Drowsy Chaperone, a similar fictionalised parody of Ziegfeld is Victor Feldzieg, producer of Feldzieg's Follies.

Archive

The Academy Film Archive houses the Florenz Ziegfeld-Billie Burke Collection. The collection consists primarily of home movies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Further reading

  • Carter, Randolph, Ziegfeld, the Time of His Life, New and rev. ed., London, Bernard Press, 1988; Template:ISBN
  • Redniss, Lauren, Century Girl: 100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies, New York, Harper Collins, 2006; Template:ISBN.

References

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