Anna Held and the Birth of Ziegfeld's Broadway [Hardcover]

Eve Golden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2000

" Anna Held (1870?-1918), a petite woman with an hourglass figure, was America's most popular musical comedy star during the two decades preceding World War I. In the colorful world of New York theater during La Belle Époque, she epitomized everything that was glamorous, sophisticated, and suggestive about turn-of-the-century Broadway. Overcoming an impoverished life as an orphan to become a music-hall star in Paris, Held rocketed to fame in America. From 1896 to 1910, she starred in hit after hit and quickly replaced Lillian Russell as the darling of the theatrical world. The first wife of legendary producer Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., Held was the brains and inspiration behind his Follies and shared his knack for publicity. Together, they brought the Paris scene to New York, complete with lavish costumes and sets and a chorus of stunningly beautiful women, dubbed ""The Anna Held Girls."" While Held was known for a champagne giggle as well as for her million-dollar bank account, there was a darker side to her life. She concealed her Jewish background and her daughter from a previous marriage. She suffered through her two husbands' gambling problems and Ziegfeld's blatant affairs with showgirls. With the outbreak of fighting in Europe, Held returned to France to support the war effort. She entertained troops and delivered medical supplies, and she was once briefly captured by the German army. Anna Held and the Birth of Ziegfeld's Broadway reveals one of the most remarkable women in the history of theatrical entertainment. With access to previously unseen family records and photographs, Eve Golden has uncovered the details of an extraordinary woman in the vibrant world of 1900s New York.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Thanks to the Ziegfeld Follies, a wildly popular string of revues from the early 1900s, the name of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. is familiar to many theater devotees. Somewhat less well known, however, is Anna Held, a musical performer who blazed brightly in those early days of Broadway--and who for many years was Ziegfeld's common-law wife. In this extravagantly entertaining biography, Golden places Held squarely center stage--in a colorful career that spanned more than 20 years--while painting a meticulously detailed portrait of the dawn of the last century. Dishy show-biz gossip (much of which strikes such a note of d?j? vu that it might well come from today's star-glazed 'zines) is smartly placed within a serious but never dry framework that incorporates historical events and society's evolving mores. The abundant use of newspaper articles, critics' reviews and excerpts from Held's many interviews draws the reader into the scene. Though Held was known as a Parisian, she was in fact from Warsaw, born probably in 1870. (Like many figures in the entertainment world, Golden notes, "Anna Held's birthdate and hometown are a dark mystery, thanks to her own mythmaking.") Her early years were spent in Paris and London, where she began her theatrical pursuits. In 1896, the impresario Ziegfeld sailed for Europe to scout new talent; when he encountered Held at London's Palace Theater, "it was like nitro meeting glycerin for the first time." In the words of a later Ziegfeld star, Eddie Cantor, "For a generation, America succumbed to the Anna Held craze." So too will readers succumb to her vibrantly told tale. 69 b&w photos. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Journalist/biographer Golden (Platinum Girl: The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow; Vamp: The Rise and Fall of Theda Bara) presents a fascinating look at a dynamic period in Western history through the life of one extraordinary woman. Anna Held (1870?-1918), "the brains and inspiration" behind Ziegfeld's Follies, is followed from her Jewish roots in prepogrom Warsaw, through her years as one of the most popular musical comedy stars in America, and on to her life as a World War I heroine. An exhaustive researcher, Golden offers an attention to detail that is remarkable. However, this would be a difficult book to use for research, as Golden tends to go off on tangents about historical events and individuals. Still, it is an enjoyable read, with generous use of quotes and conversations--all taken directly from published interviews, autobiographies, or private correspondence--adding life to the narrative. Recommended for theater history and biography collections.
-Laura A. Ewald, Murray State Univ. Lib., KY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky; 1st edition, edition (March 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813121531
• ISBN-13: 978-0813121536
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #990,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

After 20-some years in magazine publishing (including a stint writing "The Bottom Shelf" for Movieline, and as copy chief at More), I now work as a photo archivist in New York. I have several new book ideas on the back and front burners, and a proposal currently making the rounds.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating look at the birth of Broadway..., June 12, 2000

By 

Sarah Baker - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anna Held and the Birth of Ziegfeld's Broadway (Hardcover)

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in Ms. Held's life and career as well as the development of Ziegfeld's Broadway. It is well-documented and researched but not the least bit dry--in fact, I couldn't put it down once I started. I highly recommend this book!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great book, October 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Anna Held and the Birth of Ziegfeld's Broadway (Hardcover)

Those hoping for a trashy sensationalist bio from this author will be disappointed. That is not to say that they will not be entertained, enlightened and educated and even perhaps raise their future expectations of "show biz biographies". Ms.Golden's previous two biographies, on Jean Harlow and Theda Bara were witty, well-researched and humane investigations of two film figures whose public personas had been hidden behind decades of myth and melodrama. In Anna Held, Ms.Golden has rediscovered a figure in entertainment history who has been largely, and illogically forgotten. It is as if , in a century's time, Streisand had slipped from the public imagination. It would have been easy to write a melodramatic biography of Anna Held (her short life certainly justifies it) but Ms. Golden has gone deeper and placed her resolutely within her time, and therein lies the success of her book. Anna's times were turn-of-the-century Europe and the United States, and with her talent for bringing alive historical times, Ms.Golden presents a fascinating and insightful picture not only of Anna and the entertainment world she lived in, but of the bigger social context. want to know what the early days of motoring were really like? it's there. Want to know what wearing a corset actually entailed? It's there. Does this sound dry and over-scholarly? Fear not. Ms.Golden, known for her humorous column in Movieline magazine, has brought a dry and witty humour to Anna's story. Ms.Golden has, for this reader, achieved something really special: she has made me care deeply about an otherwise forgotten figure. Anna Held emerges from Ms.Golden's book alive and charming as all hell, and in doing so, the author has made a forgotten character unforgettable.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting life of a forgotten star and her times, July 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Anna Held and the Birth of Ziegfeld's Broadway (Hardcover)

Not much has been written about the former music hall and vaudeville star, Anna Held, brought to fame in this country by Florenz Ziegfeld, and who turned out to be his first wife. I was surprised to learn of her early difficult childhood and her Jewish origins. Most interesting of all is how the author weaves in facts about the life in her times, especially early history of the automobile and of women's tortuous underwear, i.e. the corset! My lack of 4 or 5 stars is not for the content, but for the editor who missed a lot of spelling and syntax mistakes. It is a worthwhile read if you are interested in late 19th and early 20th century life and stage performers.