The term "Ziegfeld Girl" (or "Ziegfeld Follies Girl") is used broadly to describe the "singers, showgirls, comediennes, [and] dancers" who appeared in Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.'s theatrical Broadway revue spectaculars known as the Ziegfeld Follies . [1]
The term "Ziegfeld Girl" (or "Ziegfeld Follies Girl") is used broadly to describe the "singers, showgirls, comediennes, [and] dancers" who appeared in Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.'s theatrical Broadway revue spectaculars known as the Ziegfeld Follies . [1]
When Ziegfeld's Follies began in 1907, advertisements for the show noted the "Ziegfeld Beauty Girls," along with other groups, including the "Gibson Bathing Girls," "Bewitching Peacock Girls," and many others. [2] By 1912, Ziegfeld Girls were described as "ever-changing from widows to pink ladies, to cafe spirits, to troubadours, to drummers, to hockey girls, Purity League girls, and whatever girls—always shimmering, diverting and disappearing with the carefree abandon of butterflies," [3] suggesting that the term referred generally to the women in the chorus.
In 1916, star solo dancer Ann Pennington, a Follies principal, was referred to as a Ziegfeld Follies Girl, [4] indicating that the term applied headliners, members of the chorus, and any woman appearing in a Ziegfeld-branded production.
Broad use of the term has continued to the present, with Fanny Brice referred to in 2011 as a Ziegfeld Follies Girl. [5] despite Brice not conforming "to the prevailing notion of female beauty and, more specifically, to the Ziegfeldian definition of it." [6]
Ziegfeld himself appears to have thought of Ziegfeld Girls with specific regard to the chorus. In 1921 he published a series of newspaper articles in which he promised to reveal "the real truth about the American chorus beauty." The articles outlined "where the chorus beauties come from, how they are selected for their jobs, how they keep beautiful and the secrets of their fascination for the tired businessman." [7]
Ziegfeld Girl (or Girls) can also refer to the hierarchy of performers in Ziegfeld productions, particularly those staged by choreographer Ned Wayburn. Described as atop this hierarchy were the showgirls, tall women who modeled extravant costumes; below them were the chorus girls, also known as "ponies" or "chickens," who danced and sang in group numbers. [8]
One contemporary critic declared that Ziegfeld "must glorify the American Girl to the limit, but he must know in advance exactly where that limit is. . . As a barometer of New York, it [the Follies] cannot be excelled" and that audiences went to the shows "to worship--and to discover where the exact limit of propriety has moved." [9]
Ziegfeld was credited as the "arbiter of beauty in America" and the "one man in America who knows better than any other what makes a girl beautiful. . . Out of America’s vast garden of girls, Ziegfeld picks the perfect blossoms. He knows beauty. If he did not the name of the Follies Girl would not stand, as it does today throughout the world, as the synonym for sheer loveliness, daintiness, charm, allure." [10]
Modern scholars have pointed out the racial, ethnic, and other limitations to Ziegfeld's ideas of beauty. "His 'system' was a curious 'racism of beauty' . . . The Follies registered not simply the exclusion of color but the protection of whiteness--he forbade a suntan on any of his girls." [11]
The 1936 film The Great Ziegfeld starring William Powell and Myrna Loy is a fictionalized and sanitized tribute to Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., and his Follies. 1941 saw release of the film Ziegfeld Girl, starring Judy Garland and James Stewart. The movie tells the story of three women who become Follies performers. Ziegfeld Follies is a 1945 film in which imagines Ziegfeld creating a new show from his perch in heaven. Such portrayals "emblazoned the term Ziegfeld Girl in popular culture as a shorthand for female glory, beauty, and glamour." [8]
The Great Ziegfeld is a 1936 American musical drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and produced by Hunt Stromberg. It stars William Powell as the theatrical impresario Florenz "Flo" Ziegfeld Jr., Luise Rainer as Anna Held, and Myrna Loy as Billie Burke.
Funny Girl is a musical with score by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill, and book by Isobel Lennart, that first opened on Broadway in 1964. The semi-biographical plot is based on the life and career of comedian and Broadway star Fanny Brice, featuring her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein.
The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air.
Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. 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". Ziegfeld is a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame.
Fania Borach, known professionally as Fanny Brice or Fannie Brice, was an American comedian, illustrated song model, singer, and actress who made many stage, radio, and film appearances. She is known as the creator and star of the top-rated radio comedy series The Baby Snooks Show.
A chorus line is a large group of dancers who together perform synchronized routines, usually in musical theatre. Sometimes, singing is also performed. While synchronized dancing indicative of a chorus line was vogue during the first half of the 20th century, modern theatre uses the terms "ensemble" and "chorus" to indicate all supporting players in a stage production.
Ziegfeld Follies is a 1945 American musical comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, primarily directed by Vincente Minnelli, with segments directed by Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, and George Sidney, the film's original director before Minnelli took over. Other directors that are claimed to have made uncredited contributions to the film are Merrill Pye, Norman Taurog, and Charles Walters. It stars many MGM leading talents, including Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, James Melton, Victor Moore, William Powell, Red Skelton, and Esther Williams.
Ziegfeld Girl is a 1941 American musical film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring James Stewart, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, Lana Turner, Tony Martin, Jackie Cooper, Eve Arden, and Philip Dorn. The film, which features musical numbers by Busby Berkeley, was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Funny Girl is a 1968 American biographical-musical film directed by William Wyler and written by Isobel Lennart, adapted from her book for the stage musical of the same title. It is loosely based on the life and career of comedienne Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein.
Kay Laurell was an American stage and silent film actress and model.
Alfred Cheney Johnston was a New York City-based photographer known for his portraits of Ziegfeld Follies showgirls as well as of actors and actresses from the worlds of stage and film.
"A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin in 1919 which became the theme song of the Ziegfeld Follies. The first verse and refrain are considered part of the Great American Songbook and are often covered as a jazz standard.
Virginia Biddle was an American revue performer, showgirl, and former nude model. She was a regular performer in Florenz Ziegfeld's Follies shows for several years until 1931.
A Winsome Widow is a 1912 musical produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., which was a revised version of Charles Hale Hoyt's 1891 hit, A Trip to Chinatown, with a score by Raymond Hubbell.
Dolores or Rose Dolores was an English model. She is recognised as the first celebrity clothes model and has been credited with inventing the blank hauteur of the modern fashion model. Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. called her "the loveliest showgirl in the world". She was known for her commanding stage presence and became the star of the Ziegfeld Follies from 1917 until her retirement in 1923. She lived the rest of her life in Paris and during the Second World War helped Allied airmen escape the German occupation.
A Parisian Model is a 1906 Edwardian musical comedy with music by Max Hoffman, Sr. to a book and lyrics by Harry B. Smith. The story concerns a dressmaker's model who comes into a fortune. It opened on Broadway in 1906, ran with success and toured. It was produced by Frank McKee and Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., and starred Anna Held, Ziegfeld's common law wife. Soon after the success of this piece, Ziegfeld would launch his famous series of Ziegfeld Follies revues.
Carmen Regina Revnes, known professionally as Sybil Carmen, was an American actress, dancer, and Ziegfeld girl.
Joan Gardner was a Broadway actress and chorus girl in the early 20th century. She was known for being in the Ziegfeld Follies as a tall beauty standing at 5 feet 8 inches.
Gladys Feldman was an American actress, dancer, and showgirl.
Jessie Reed was an early 20th-century American model and showgirl. She gained fame as the highest-paid showgirl at the Ziegfeld Follies in the 1920s. Most accounts give her birth date as July 3, 1897, although she gave the year as 1898 on some records.
Media related to Ziegfeld Girls at Wikimedia Commons