Anna held biography

I first read Anna Held and the Birth of Ziegfeld’s Broadway by Eve Golden back in without knowing anything about Anna Held. Zilch. In fact, aside from references in other biographies, some related Wikipedia searches, and Peg Costello&#;s (Joan Blondell&#;s) quote from Desk Set(&#;We&#;ll get together once a year regularly, like the Ziegfeld girls&#;), I really didn&#;t know much about Anna&#;s onetime husband, showbiz whiz Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. either.

What I did know was that Eve Golden could write a heck of a biography and that the cover art depicting a beaming and ultra-femme Anna Held was intriguing. After all, what kind of person can dance in a corset that makes her waist look all of 2 inches big and a hat about 5 times the size of her head and still smile like that? I had to know.

The book does not disappoint and starts off with a deliciously intriguing scene&#;

New Year&#;s Eve, Flo Ziegfeld brings his drama queen girlfriend Lillian Lorraine to a costume party also attended by ex-wife, Anna Held. Everyone is waiting for a confrontation between the two divas (Flo hadn&#;t waited to end things with Anna before he started them with Lillian), but Lillian storms off instead. Anna performs for the crowd, but instead Flo&#;s eyes turn to the entrance of another young woman, ingenue and Flo&#;s eventual wife, Billie Burke, while a heartbroken Anna looks on at the sparks flying&#; &#;When midnight struck on January 1, , Anna Held&#;s old world of Diamond Jim, Lillian Russell, ostrich plumes, and champagne dinners had ended. It was time to reinvent herself,&#; Golden gives us before looping back to Anna&#;s beginnings.

Anna Held&#;s origins were muddy by her own design, not wanting to dwell on her true age or her impoverished and chaotic childhood as a Warsaw-born Jew during a time when Jews were persecuted there. The family fled to Paris and Anna fell madly in love with the city, identifying from then on as a Parisienne full stop. Orphaned before she was

Anna Heldwas born March 8, in Warsaw, Poland. At about seven years old she immigrated to Paris, France with her parents. After the death of her father, Anna and her mother moved to London, England where she soon began her career on the stage. Anna Held's first husband was Maximo Carrera, a South American businessman whom she met in Paris. By that time she was already a musical comedy star and had attracted the eye of Florenz Ziegfeld, who signed her to a contract to tour America. She moved to the United States leaving her husband and daughter, Liane in Paris. After completing the tour she starred on Broadway for Ziegfeld.

In Anna Held divorced her husband and married Ziegfeld. In , she divorced Ziegfeld who then married Billie Burke. Anna Held died on August 2, leaving her entire estate to her daughter Liane.

In Liane Carrera opened the Anna Held Museum in San Jacinto, California. She devoted the rest of her life to telling the story of Anna Held. Liane Carrera died in

Broadway stage performer (–)

Helene Anna Held (19 March – 12 August ) was a Polish-born French stage performer of Jewish origin on Broadway. While appearing in London, she was spotted by impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, who brought her to America as his common-law wife. From through , she was one of Broadway's most celebrated leading ladies, presented in a succession of musicals as a charming, coquettish Parisian singer and comedienne, with an hourglass figure and an off-stage reputation for exotic behavior, such as bathing in 40 gallons of milk a day to maintain her complexion. Detractors implied that her fame owed more to Ziegfeld's promotional flair than to any intrinsic talent, but her audience allure was undeniable for over a decade, with several of her shows setting house attendance records for their time. Her uninhibited style also inspired the long-running series of popular revues, the Ziegfeld Follies.

Early life

Born in Warsaw, Held was named Helene Anna Held, daughter of a German Jewish glove maker, Shimmle (aka Maurice) Held, and his French-Jewish wife, Yvonne Pierre.

Sources list a variety of birth years, ranging from to , but has been accepted in general. In , anti-Semiticpogroms forced the family to flee to Paris. When her father's glove manufacturing business failed, he found work as a janitor, while her mother operated a kosher restaurant. Held began working in the garment industry, then found work as a singer in Jewish theatres in Paris and, later, after her father's death, London, where her roles included the title role in a production by Jacob Adler of Abraham Goldfaden's Shulamith; sh

Ziegfeld

Anna Held

by John Kenrick

Copyright

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It is impossible to discuss Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.'s development as a showman without considering Anna Held's contribution to his life and career. Ziegfeld got his taste in clothes, knowledge of stage presentation, and even the idea for his Follies from her. She was one of the first celebrities to win transatlantic fame, and a leading musical stage star for more than two decades. It is no exaggeration to say that she was one of the most remarkable women of her time.

Although she later insisted that she was a native Parisian, Helene Anna Held was born in Warsaw, the daughter of a German Jewish glove maker and his French wife. Her "official" birthday was March 18, , but some sources suggest she was born five to eight years sooner. When anti-Semitic pogroms swept Poland in , the Held family fled to Paris. When her father's health faded (some sources suggest he was a heavy drinker), teenage Anna and her mother had to support themselves as sweat shop seamstresses. Anna occasionally sang in the streets to earn extra pennies.

To the Stage

Anna Held at age 15 with her mother.

After her father's death in , Anna and her mother went to live with relatives in London. There she made her professional stage debut in the legendary Yiddish theatre companies of Avram Goldfadn and actor-manager Jacob Adler. She returned to Paris, where her rolling eyes, eighteen inch waist and naughty songs made Held a major star in the finest cafes. She increased her fame by such shrewd gestures as riding horses astride (rather than side-saddle), and by being one of the first women to ride the newly invented bicycle and motorcar.

She had an affair with wealthy South American gambler Maximo Carrera, and they married barely in time to legitimize the birth of their daughter Liane sometime around The child was raised in a convent, and the un