Ziegfeld, Florenz, Jr.

Ziegfeld, Florenz, Jr. (1867–1932), producer. The most famous of all American showmen, still synonymous with glamour and opulence, he was born in Chicago, where his father ran a musical conservatory. As director of musical events for the 1893 Columbian Exposition, the elder Ziegfeld sent his son to Europe to secure talent. Instead of hiring distinguished musical figures, the young Ziegfeld signed on music‐hall performers and circus acts. In 1893 he also became manager of the strongman Eugene Sandow, and his promotion of the muscle man established his own name, too. Ziegfeld's first Broadway production was an 1896 revival of A Parlor Match, which featured his first wife, Anna Held. His subsequent productions, mostly vehicles for Held, were Papa's Wife (1899), The Little Duchess (1901), The Red Feather (1903), Mam'selle Napoleon (1903), Higgledy Piggledy (1904), and A Parisian Model (1906). Even in these early productions he began to earn a reputation for offering a chorus line of beautiful girls in sumptuous costumes. His next production was the Follies of 1907, which initiated the famous series called the Ziegfeld Follies. His other musical productions included The Soul Kiss (1908), Miss Innocence (1908), Over the River (1912), A Winsome Widow (1912), The Century Girl (1916), Miss 1917, Sally (1920), Kid Boots (1923), Annie Dear (1924), Louie the 14th (1925), No Foolin' (1926), Betsy (1926), Rio Rita (1927), Show Boat (1927), Rosalie (1928), The Three Musketeers (1928), Whoopee (1928), Show Girl (1929), Bitter Sweet (1929), Simple Simon (1930), Smiles (1930), a 1932 revival of Show Boat, and Hot‐Cha! (1932). Although he was often accused in his day of being indifferent to great comics or great show songs, his roster of brilliant clowns and the numerous still‐popular melodies that came from his shows belie the accusations. He also produced a number of nonmusical plays, including Rose Briar (1922) for his second wife, Billie Burke. Ziegfeld's personal extravagances were as well publicized as his shows—among them his penchant for sending long telegrams to people within reach of his phone. His productions were the costliest of their day and were praised not merely for their richness but for their tasteful visual beauty, especially those designed by Joseph Urban. The producer's excellences so overshadowed those of his associates in contemporary eyes that, for example, the original production of Show Boat was hailed by most critics as a Ziegfeld show and not a Kern or Hammerstein show. Writing of the earlier Sally, Alexander Woollcott concluded, “It is of none of these, not of Urban, nor Jerome Kern, not of Leon Errol, not even of Marilyn Miller that you think as you rush for the subway at ten minutes to midnight. You think of Mr. Ziegfeld. He is that kind of producer. There are not many of them in the world.” Through much of his career he was associated with two of New York's almost legendary theatres, the New Amsterdam, where most of his Follies played, and the Ziegfeld, which he opened in 1927. Biography: Ziegfeld, Charles Higham, 1972.