Ziegfeld girl

Sheet music cover for "Shine on Harvest Moon" with Ruth Etting of the Ziegfeld Follies

These showgirls followed on the heels of the Florodora girls, who had started to "loosen the corset" of the Gibson Girl in the early years of the 20th century. Decked out in Erté designs, these beauties gained many young male admirers and became objects of popular adoration. The showgirls were picked to be similar in appearance and in stature. They danced in complete synchronization, and were the only act that was uniform in the Ziegfeld Follies. Many were persuaded by suitors to leave the show to marry, some to men of substantial wealth. The Ziegfeld Ball in New York City continued as a social event of the season for years after the last production of the Follies.

In 1897, Ziegfeld made a common-law marriage with Anna Held, one of his showgirls. They were never legally married, but they lived together long enough to be considered so legally. In 1913, Held divorced Ziegfeld because of his infidelities with Lillian Lorraine, another Ziegfeld girl.[1]

Soon after that, Held died and Ziegfeld married another Ziegfeld girl, future film star Billie Burke. Although Ziegfeld had several affairs, Burke claimed that Lorraine was the only one of whom she was jealous.[1] Ziegfeld remained married to Burke (and in love with Lorraine) until his death in 1932.

Anastasia Reilly, 1923

Over the years, the Ziegfeld girls included many future film stars such as Marion Davies, Paulette Goddard, Joan Blondell, Olive Thomas, Jeanne Eagels, Barbara Stanwyck, Billie Dove, Lilian Bond, Louise Brooks, Nita Naldi, Julanne Johnston, Mae Murray, Dorothy Mackaill, Odette Myrtil, Lilyan Tashman, Claire Dodd, Cecile Arnold, Dolores Costello, Dorothy Sebastian, Juliette Compton, Mary Nolan, Iris Adrian, Annette Bade. Other Ziegfeld girls became social and business successes, such as Peggy Hopkins Joyce, Helen Gallagher, Anastasia Reilly,[2] Sybil Carmen, Myrtle Miller (Asta Sven) [3][4] and Irene Hayes. Other Ziegfeld girls included Leone Sousa, Monica Bannister,[5] Mildred Chris Kennedy,[6] Irene Amelia Melfi and Dorothy Hale.

Mona Louise Parsons was a Ziegfeld girl who later became a member of the Dutch resistance during the Second World War. Kiki Roberts, lover of American gangster "Legs Diamond", was also a former Ziegfeld girl.[7]

Dolores Costello as a Ziegfeld girl, ca. 1923

Although many future stars started out as Ziegfeld girls, other women who became notable had been rejected by Ziegfeld for his revue. Norma Shearer (in 1919 and 1920), Alice Faye (in 1927), Joan Crawford (in 1924), Gypsy Rose Lee (in 1927), Lucille Ball (in 1927 and 1931), Phyllis Haver (in 1915), Eleanor Powell (in 1927), Ruby Keeler (in 1924), Hedda Hopper (in 1913), and June Havoc (in 1927 and 1931) were among the many hopefuls that the master showman discarded after auditions. In 1957, the then-current members were featured as mystery guests on the television panel show What's My Line?[8]

The chorus lines of the last century led to successors, chiefly The Rockettes of Radio City Music Hall. After the death of Dorothy Raphaelson in 2005, Doris Eaton Travis was the last surviving Ziegfeld Girl.[9] Travis died on May 11, 2010, at the age of 106.[10]

• Media related to Ziegfeld Girls at Wikimedia Commons