Florenz Ziegfeld's Obituary

Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. was born on March 21, 1867. His father was German, and he opened and was the head of the College of Music. Ziegfeld had two brothers and one sister, with whom he was raised by his mother. His mother was a strict but loving person (Kenrick). According to Kenrick, Ziegfeld had a knack for creative publicity; he once sold tickets to people so they could see an invisible goldfish, however, it was only a bowl full of water. When he was younger, Ziegfeld was sent briefly to a cattle ranch, but he returned home soon after. In Ziegfeld’s obituary, it is said that he was raised around with a background of Beethoven, Schumann, and Bach.
Florenz Ziegfeld’s career highlights include his annual Follies, with the slogan “Glorifying the American Girl,” along with the musicals Sally (1920) and Show Boat (1927). His start with production was making Eugene Sandow the star of his father’s exhibit for the World’s Fair (Kenrick). The Ziegfeld Follies ran for a total of twenty-three years. There were four more productions after his death in 1932 (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica). He stopped the showing of the Follies during 1927, however, he resumed production during 1930, just as the Great Depression was starting. During the hiatus, Ziegfeld produced shows such as Rio Rita and Show
Boat. Show Boat is considered to be one of the earliest integrated musicals. It has its moments where it is not fully integrated, but it was one of the first. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, several actors/actresses became stars under Florenz Ziegfeld. For example, Fanny Brice, Bert Williams, Marilyn Miller, and Will Rogers all worked with Ziegfeld at some point in their career.
Before the Ziegfeld Follies had been first introduced, Ziegfeld had temporarily stopped producing, and he travelled to Europe for four and a half years (The Associated Press).
He was said to have won large sums and lost equivalent or more of those same sums. Ziegfeld returned to America with inspiration from the Parisian Folies Bergére. However, the Follies that Ziegfeld produced were less risqué (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica). His father could also be considered an influence because he taught music at a collegiate level, so music was a constant surrounding, however, the younger Ziegfeld chose to go the theatrical route whereas the elder taught classically
(Hester).
Florenz Ziegfeld collaborated with Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, however, the show that they produced, Simple Simon, did not succeed. Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the lyrics and the book for the musical Show Boat that Ziegfeld produced in 1927. Ziegfeld entered into a partnership with Samuel Goldwyn to create the stories for audible films. Many of Ziegfeld’s stage shows were later transformed and put on the screen (Hester).
Florenz Ziegfeld made women the main attraction in most of his shows, especially his annually Follies. However, beautiful women were not the only people he would hire to perform in his shows. Bert Williams was one such person. He was not a Caucasian white male; he was dark skinned. Many times, due to discrimination, people who were not white were not hired. However, in vaudeville there were blackface performances, where an actor would smear burnt cork onto his face to appear black and act out a short performance. Ziegfeld hired Williams, and put him into his shows, the annual Follies, and Williams would appear in blackface.
Florenz Ziegfeld challenged how accepting the people of the United States were. He started an annual show where beautiful, scantily clad women were the main attraction. He took inspiration from a Parisian show that was much more risqué. Ziegfeld was the producer of one of the first integrated musicals. While he did not write the book, the music, or the lyrics, he can claim that had he not produced it, the show likely may not have been performed. According to Hester, Ziegfeld transformed Broadway from average performances of vaudeville and chorus lines into magnificent shows. Femininity also transformed during Ziegfeld’s time, and he had a large influence over how it changed. The slogan for his annual Follies was glorifying the American girl, so women during this time would want to emulate what was being shown to them during the revues. That may have included being less docile, and being more risky. It was the Prohibition era during the twenties when Ziegfeld was at his highest, and women were bootleggers, they were wearing less clothing, cutting their hair, and completely changing the way women were viewed.
Ziegfeld’s Follies were one of his most popular productions. They lasted for twenty-three years, and continued after he died. Twenty-three years of a production, while the shows were different every year, they were still under the term Follies, will leave an impression on citizens.