Even more than 100 years after his death, it’s hard to think of massive headdresses, glamorous showgirls, and big budget Broadway productions without thinking simultaneously of Florenz “Flo” Ziegfeld Jr. One of the most famous theatrical impresarios of his time, Ziegfeld is still easily considered one of the greatest showmen who ever lived. He was known for bringing the spirit of the French Folies Bergere to America with his Follies, featuring some of the most beautiful girls in show business, as well as launching or buoying the careers of many highly popular singers, comedians, actors, and dancers of the time such as Fanny Brice, Barbara Stanwyck, Will Rogers, and Eddie Cantor.

Please join me for the first annual Great Ziegfeld Blogathon on May 15 – 17, 2020, so we can celebrate Ziegfeld in all of his glamour and glory.

This will be my second ever hosted blogathon (and first where I’m playing by the typical rules) so I would love it if you joined me in participating and/or following along with what I know will be some fabulous entries!

Also, a big shoutout and thank you to Brian Lageose at Bonnywood Manor for his fabulous and hilarious promo of the blogathon. Please check it out here: BuMP – #3: Cannolis and Coiffures and Confusion. 

To Begin:

Choose a topic to write about or review that is in some way related to Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. – the man himself, his Follies and shows, his spouses and romances, his performers and collaborators, his rivals, films produced by or about him, books about him or those in his sphere…anything goes, as long as it comes back in some way to Ziegfeld!

Ziegfeld’s net was wide. Here are some ideas if you’re unsure what to write about:

Acts, Showgirls, Collaborators, and Other Notables:

  • Iris Adrian
  • Cecile Arnold
  • Annette Bade
  • Josephine Baker
  • Irving Berlin
  • Joan Blondell
  • Ray Bolger
  • Fanny Brice
  • Louise Brooks
  • Billie Burke
  • Eddie Cantor
  • Juliette Compton
  • Dolores Costello
  • Marion Davies
  • Claire Dodd
  • Billie Dove
  • Lady Duff-Gordon
  • Jeanne Eagels
  • Leon Errol
  • The Eatons (Mary Eaton, Doris Eaton Travis, Pearl Eaton, etc.)
  • Ruth Etting
  • W.C. Fields
  • Helen Gallagher
  • Paulette Goddard
  • Oscar Hammerstein II
  • Anna Held
  • Bob Hope
  • Peggy Hopkins Joyce
  • Julanne Johnston
  • Jerome Kern
  • Lillian Lorraine
  • Dorothy Mackaill
  • Marilyn Miller
  • Helen Morgan
  • Mae Murray
  • Odette Myrtil
  • Nita Naldi
  • Mary Nolan
  • Mona Parsons
  • Ann Pennington
  • Will Rogers
  • Eugene Sandow
  • Dorothy Sebastian
  • The Shuberts
  • Barbara Stanwyck
  • Eva Tanguay
  • Lillyan Tashman
  • Olive Thomas
  • Sophie Tucker
  • Joseph Urban
  • Bert Williams
  • Ed Wynn
  • Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. himself!
  • Patricia Ziegfeld

Films produced by, based on shows by, about, or featuring Ziegfeld and/or his Follies:

  • The Clown (1953)
  • Deep in My Heart (1954)
  • Easter Parade (1948)
  • The Eddie Cantor Story (1953)
  • Funny Girl (1968)
  • Glorifying the American Girl (1929)
  • The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
  • The Helen Morgan Story (1957)
  • The I Don’t Care Girl (1953)
  • I’ll See You in My Dreams (1951)
  • The Jolson Story (1946)
  • Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
  • Polly of the Follies (1922)
  • Pretty Ladies (1925)
  • Rio Rita (1929 and 1942)
  • Rose of Washington Square (1939)
  • Sally (1929)
  • Show Boat (1929, 1936, and 1951)
  • The Story of Will Rogers (1952)
  • Vanya on 42nd Street (1994)
  • W.C. Fields and Me (1976)
  • Whoopee! (1930)
  • Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women (1978)
  • Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
  • Ziegfeld Girl (1941)

Books about Ziegfeld and those in his sphere:

  • Beryl Halley: The Life and Follies of a Ziegfeld Beauty, 1897-1988 by Jacob L. Bapst and Ivan M. Tribe
  • Revue: A Nostalgic Reprise of the Great Broadway Period by Robert Baral
  • Jerome Kern: His Life and Music by Gerald Bordman
  • Ziegfeld and His Follies: A Biography of Broadway’s Greatest Producer by Cynthia & Sara Brideson
  • With a Feather On My Nose by Billie Burke
  • The World of Flo Ziegfeld by Randolph Carter
  • Scandals and Follies: The Rise and Fall of the Great Broadway Revue by Lee Davis
  • The Days We Danced: The Story of My Theatrical Family From Florenz Ziegfeld to Arthur Murray and Beyond by Doris Eaton Travis
  • Getting To Know Him: Oscar Hammerstein II by Hugh Fordin
  • The Ziegfeld Follies: A History in Pictures and Text by Marjorie Farnsworth
  • Female Spectacle: The Theatrical Roots of Modern Feminism by Susan A. Glenn
  • Anna Held and The Birth of Ziegfeld’s Broadway by Eve Golden
  • Fanny Brice: The Original Funny Girl by Howard Goldman
  • Lillian Lorraine: The Life and Times of a Ziegfeld Diva by Nils Hanson
  • The Other Marilyn: A Biography of Marilyn Miller  by Warren G. Harris
  • Mrs. Ziegfeld: The Public and Private Lives of Billie Burke by Grant Hayter-Menzies
  • Ziegfeld by Charles Higham
  • Jazz Age Beauties: The Lost Collection of Ziegfeld Photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston by Robert Hudovernik
  • Show Boat: The Story of a Classic American Musical by Miles Kruger
  • Mary Nolan, Ziegfeld Girl and Silent Movie Star: A Biography Including Her 1941 Memoir by Louise Carley Lewisson
  • Ziegfeld Girl: Image and Icon in Culture and Cinema by Linda Mizejewski
  • Ziegfeld: The Man Who Invented Show Business by Ethan Mordden
  • Century Girl: 100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies by Lauren Redniss
  • Bert Williams by Eric Lelell Smith
  • The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows: The Untold Tale of Ziegfeld’s Rivals by Jonas Westover
  • Bring On the Girls by P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton
  • The Ziegfeld’s Girl: Confessions of an Abnormally Happy Childhood by Patricia Ziegfeld
  • The Ziegfeld Touch: The Life and Times of Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. by Richard and Paulette Ziegfeld 

More ideas at:

 

Additional Rules:

  • A maximum of 3 entries are allowed per person
  • Duplicates are allowed, but only 2 per subject please (when a subject is full, I will post a notice)
  • Take a look at the roster at the bottom of the page before signing up to make sure your subject is available
  • Post any day during the blogathon, May 15 – 17, 2020, and drop me a line once you’ve posted so that I may link it in
  • Help promote the event by using the hashtag #GreatZiegfeldBlogathon
  • Please sign up here in the comments or let me know on Twitter @hollywoodgenes
  • And finally, please include one of the banners below (designed by yours truly) in your post:

 

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Subjects that are full:

  • Easter Parade (1948)
  • Ziegfeld Girl (1941)

 

Roster:

4 Star Film Fan: Ziegfeld Girl (1941)

18 Cinema Lane: The Clown (1953)

A Shroud of Thoughts: Ziegfeld Follies (1946)

Bonnywood Manor: Funny Girl (1968)

Caftan Woman: Flo, Irving and the Follies

Cary Grant Won’t Eat You – Pandora’s Box (1929)

The Chiddicks Family Tree: The Jolson Story (1946)

Cinematic Catharsis: It’s the Old Army Game (1926)

Critica Retro: Nita Naldi

Dubsism: Road To Zanzibar (1941)

Hollywood Genes: Book review of Anna Held and the Birth of Ziegfeld’s Broadway

Movie Rob: Showboat (1951); Deep in My Heart (1954); and The Eddie Cantor Story (1953)

Pale Writer: Easter Parade (1948)

Pure Entertainment Preservation Society: Ziegfeld Girl (1941)

Real Weegie Midget Reviews: Fantasy Island (1977) – Season 5 Episode 2, “Devil and Mr. Roarke/Ziegfeld Girls/Kid Corey Rides Again”

Silver Screenings: Glorifying the American Girl (1929)

Taking Up Room: Easter Parade (1948)