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University of Texas at Austin

Florenz Ziegfeld:

A Preliminary Inventory of the Photograph Collection at the Harry Ransom Center

Creator: Ziegfeld, Florenz, 1867-1932
Title: Florenz Ziegfeld Photograph Collection
Dates: 1888-1975 (bulk 1907-1936)
Extent: 11 document boxes, 2 oversize boxes, 1 oversize folder (7.5 linear feet)
Abstract: The Florenz Ziegfeld Photograph Collection documents the history of the Ziegfeld Follies and Midnight Frolics, revues and musical comedies through production photographs and portrait and stage photographs of showgirls and actors. The collection also includes a small amount of other materials, including photographs, clippings, and programs formerly located in the Florenz Ziegfeld Biographical File.
Call Number: Performing Arts Collection PA-00121
Language: English
Access: Open for research


Administrative Information


Acquisition: Assembled by Performing Arts staff, primarily from the Albert Davis Collection.
Processed by: Suzy Nones, 2001; Ancelyn Krivak, 2009; Helen Baer, 2012
Repository:

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

Scope and Contents


Florenz Ziegfeld entered show business promoting the vaudeville strongman Eugene Sandow. He met his future wife Anna Held in Europe in 1896 and presented her in several musicals in New York. By 1905 he was producing musical comedies for the theatrical booking monopoly the Syndicate. In 1907 he launched the Follies (later renamed the Ziegfeld Follies), a revue with glamorous showgirls and some of the best performers of the day. The Follies featured or made famous Fannie Brice, Bert Williams, Nora Bayes, Ed Wynn, W. C. Fields, Mary Eaton, Will Rogers, and others. It ran in annual installments until Ziegfeld's death in 1932. Ziegfeld also produced the revues the Midnight Frolic and Nine O'Clock Revue, as well as numerous musical comedies, notably Show Boat and Sally. He divorced Held and married Billie Burke, with whom he had a daughter. After Ziegfeld's death, Burke presented the 1933 and 1936 editions of the Follies.
The Florenz Ziegfeld Photograph Collection documents the history of the Ziegfeld Follies and Midnight Frolics, revues and musical comedies through production photographs and portrait and stage photographs of showgirls and actors. The collection also includes a small amount of other materials, including advertisements, playbills, programs, souvenir programs, clippings from newspapers and magazines, sheet music and some miscellaneous items such as tickets and an original caricature.
The material is arranged in two series: I. Productions (arranged by type, then chronologically) and II. Performers (arranged alphabetically). Series II. includes materials removed from the Theater Biography Collection (known as the "Bio File").

Related Material


The Florenz Ziegfeld Collection in the Performing Arts Collection at the Harry Ransom Center contains additional materials related to Florenz Ziegfeld and the Ziegfeld musical revues, including additional personal and production photographs.

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