And, I may add, from what totally unexpected sources come many of those who from the comparatively modest beginning in the chorus rise to the heights of really great achievement in the theatrical profession.
Beauty, of course, is the most important requirement and the paramount asset of the applicant.
But Irish linen does something to their walk - remember, they are Ziegfeld Girls!
But it is only through constant, faithful endeavor by the girl herself that the goal eventually is reached.
Curtain! Fast music! Light! Ready for the last finale! Great! The show looks good, the show looks good!
First, it is clearly outlined to her what she is expected to do. She may be impressed at the outset that the impossible is required, but honest application and heroic perseverance on her part plus skillful and encouraging direction by experts very seldom fail to achieve the desired results.
Half of the great comedians I've had in my shows and that I paid a lot of money to and who made my customers shriek were not only not funny to me, but I couldn't understand why they were funny to anybody.
How little the public realizes what a girl must go through before she finally appears before the spotlight that is thrown upon the stage.
I don't have a very quick sense of humor.
It is not the work of a fortnight, a month or several months to train these girls for the work expected of them.
It is the task of several months and it is a fact that a girl, either while rehearsing or actually playing, may be training for some character or feature in some future production not yet definitely fixed even in my own mind.
Let us hope that for many it does mean the end of trouble so far as earning a livelihood is concerned, that it means happy and comfortable home living honestly earned. But there are other troubles ahead for her, and plenty of hard work.
Maybe she is a chambermaid, but if she has the necessary talent and qualities a place awaits her in the Ziegfeld ranks.
Not only may she unconsciously register a favorable impression with my associates and me, but she may also suggest something by her work that will lead to some new and novel feature in a forthcoming production.
There is a prevalent impression that once a girl is enlisted under the Ziegfeld standard, her troubles are over and her hard work is ended. What a mistake!
They all hope I will go broke and I wouldn't like to cause them displeasure.
They've had me closing up The Red Feather company a dozen times, and now they are waiting for me to close Mam'selle Napoleon. Well, it won't close and I won't go broke.
To illustrate what I mean, an apt dancer may be in thorough unison with the others in that particular group, and at the same time reveal a difference in dancing temperament, rhythm or technique; she may phrase, accentuate or actually interpret differently.
Yes, there is plenty of hard work for them in addition to that which they do when they appear, smiling and happy, when the curtain goes up. Giving a performance is the least of their worries.
You'd be surprised how many of the expensive comics I've run out on and locked myself in my office when they were on stage.
I don't have a very quick sense of humor. Half of the great comedians I've had in my shows and that I paid a lot of money to and who made my customers shriek were not only not funny to me, but I couldn't understand why they were funny to anybody. You'd be surprised how many of the expensive comics I've run out on and locked myself in my office when they were on stage.
Ziegfeld explaining what he looked for in a "Ziegfeld Girl," 1925: "Beauty, of course, is the most important requirement and the paramount asset of the applicant. When I say that, I mean beauty of face, form, charm and manner, personal magnetism, individuality, grace and poise. These are details that must always be settled before the applicant has demonstrated her ability either to sing or dance. It is not easy to pass the test that qualifies a girl for membership in a Ziegfeld production, but I am frank to say that once she has done so, much of the element of doubt is removed so far as the future success of her career before the footlights is concerned."
Brother of producer William K. Ziegfeld.
In 1927, he produced what is considered his greatest artistic achievement - the original Broadway production of Show Boat. Although he recognized its artistic value, he was terrified that it would fail because of its unusually dramatic storyline. According to an eyewitness, on opening night, the audience barely applauded. It was not because they disliked the show. It was because they were so taken aback by it. The show was a huge success. By 1932, after Ziegfeld had lost much of his money in the stock market crash, he decided to try what he now considered a sure thing, a revival of Show Boat. It worked, and for a time became the biggest grosser on Broadway, until the Depression finally affected its run. Ziegeld died that same year.
He always maintained that he had no sense of humor and that he always considered the comedians he hired to be strictly secondary to the famous Ziegfeld Girls. And yet, the comedians who rose to fame in the Follies and other shows he produced may well be his greatest legacy to audiences. Among those who started with Ziegfeld were Will Rogers, Bert Williams, Eddie Cantor, W.C. Fields, Fanny Brice, Leon Errol, Ray Bolger and countless others.
He loved sending telegrams. On a lark, he had one sent to an actor rehearsing on stage while Ziegfeld himself was watching in the same theater.
On his death bed, he went delirious, shouting stage directions, apparently for the closing number of one of his productions seen only in his mind. His last words were, "Looks good! Looks good!".
Daughter, with Billie Burke: Patricia born 1916.
Is portrayed by Paul Stewart in W.C. Fields and Me (1976) and 'William Powell' in The Great Ziegfeld (1936).
Always maintained that, as a teenager in an exhibition shooting match, he actually out-shot Annie Oakley. Ms. Oakley didn't remember the incident, however, and the story itself is probably apocryphal.
Longtime companion of Anna Held (1897 - 1913). They never officially married.
Portrayed by Paul Henreid in "Deep In My Heart" (1954), William Powell (again) in "Ziegfeld Follies" (1946), and Walter Pidgeon in "Funny Girl" (1968).
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