Anna Held (1870?-1918), a tiny woman just over five feet tall with an hourglass figure, was America’s most popular musical comedy star during the two decades preceding World War I. In the colourful world of New York theatre during La Belle poque, 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 (she remained famous for years for the milk baths in which she supposedly indulged). 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, which eventually led to their divorce. With the theatre scene changing and the outbreak of fighting in Europe, Held returned to France and became a passionate supporter of the war effort. She braved the trenches to entertain troops and deliver medical supplies, and she was once briefly captured by the German army. She returned to the U.S. to star in one last show and to raise funds before dying of cancer a month before the armistice was signed. Anna Held and the Birth of Ziegfeld’s Broadway reveals the truth about one of the most remarkable women in the history of theatrical entertainment.

Author Biography

Eve Golden is the author of numerous theater and film biographies, including Jayne Mansfield: The Girl Couldn’t Help It, The Brief, Madcap Life of Kay Kendall, and John Gilbert: The Last of the Silent Film Stars.

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