this is what it is to be held lyrics
Ziegfeld 101
Anna Held - Part II
past John Kenrick
- Stardom
- Philandering Flo
- Afterwards Ziegfeld
The photos below are thumbnails – click on them to meet full size versions.
Stardom
When Held enjoyed a smashing success in vaudeville in the belatedly 1890s, Ziegfeld realized that his productions had not made the most of her charms. In 1899, subsequently Held had become more confident in her utilise of English, Ziegfeld was able to construct a show with the blend of glamour, naughtiness and publicity entreatment that showed her to best advantage. In Papa's Married woman (1899), Held's teasing songs and hourglass figue delighted men, while her dazzling Paris fashions fascinated women. Information technology proved to be Anna's first bona fide striking. Capitalizing on press coverage of Held'due south beingness ane of the first women to drive her own machine, she closed the first act by driving off in one.
Ziegfeld backed his wife with his kickoff line of showgirls, a troupe of wholesome but bonny chorines called "The Anna Held Girls" (photo left). In their next production, he continued to give Anna the near lavish costuming possible. She and her girls appeared in glamorous gowns provided past famous Parisian designers. simply this did not brand upwards for weaknesses in other departments. The weak script in Mam'selle Napoleon (1903) moved one critic to write, "Between gowns, the plot crept in."
Held introduced several hit songs over the years, including her signature song, "I Merely Can't Make My Optics Comport." Its lyric invoked memories of an before Held hit –
I just can't brand my eyes behave;
Two bad brown eyes,
I am their slave,
My lips may say,
"Run away from me,"
Merely my optics say,
"Come and play with me!"
And you won't blame
Poor piddling me, I'm certain –
For I just tin't make my optics behave.
A seductive portrait photo of Anna Held on a small sofa, inviting viewers to "Come and Play With Me."
Held's biggest hitting musicals were The Parisian Model (1905) and Miss Innocence (1908). Each ran for a full season on Broadway, followed by years of touring. Bated from earning Ziegfeld a fortune, these shows fabricated Anna Held a millionaire in her own right, something rare for an actress at that era. While both of these musicals seem harmless by mod standards, many critics condemned them as scandalous and obscene. This fuss simply made the public more than anxious to see what the fuss was about, guaranteeing full houses.
The score to The Parisian Model included "It's Delightful to Be Married," for which Held was credited with the lyrics. This success of this vocal relied heavily on her accented commitment. As for her lyric, judge information technology for yourself. How ironic that this song was popularized past a woman who left the raising of her simply child to others –
It's delightful to be married.
To be, to be, to exist, to exist, to be married.
There is cipher half so jolly every bit
A jolly married life.
And I dear to play with baby,
With my pretty picayune, darling little baby.
You are papa, I am mama,
What a jolly family!
The Parisian Model was as well the outset product to feature the sort of sexy-but-respectable product numbers that became Ziegfeld's trademark. The song "I'd Like to Meet a Piffling More of You" had the female chorus seemingly undress while modeling behind easels in an artist'southward studio, merely to take the girls step forward to reveal they were wearing strapless gowns that tactfully reached down to their knees.
The ever-vigilant Ziegfeld never missed an opportunity to get Held'southward name in the papers. Her passion for bicycling (rare amidst women of that time) gave him several excuses for creativity. When Anna took a minor tumble while cycling through Brooklyn, Ziegfeld informed the printing that she had leapt off her bike to terminate a runaway carriage and salvage the life of a retired gauge. Most of the printing didn't purchase it, and one columnist asked in impress which drugs Ziegfeld was using when he came up with such silliness! During the tour of Miss Innocence, Held made much of her "diamond gown," which she claimed was covered in more than 3,000 diamonds. It is hard to believe that such an extraordinary garment could simply disappear, simply its fate is non known.
According to Ziegfeld, it was Held who first suggested that he should stage a Folies Bergere-way revue in New York. His first Follies (1907) featured "The Anna Held Girls" without Anna, who was still touring in Miss Innocence. In fact, her simply appearance in the Follies series would be was as a flying comet in a picture used in the 1910 edition. But Held had washed so much to enrich Ziegfeld's sense of mode and amusement that it is fair to say she was role of every Follies
Philandering Flo
Ziegfeld used Anna Held's expressive eyes every bit a powerful publicity ploy. In this poster, he showcased those eyes in a one-half-dozen dissimilar moods.
Ziegfeld and Held had lived together e'er since her arrival in America, sharing a thirteen room suite in the elegant Ansonia Hotel on Manhattan'southward upper West side. Held was an adept homemaker and the couple appeared to share an affectionate relationship. Over fourth dimension, Ziegfeld's heavy gambling and relentless publicity schemes soured things. When the skeptical press and police ended that the 1906 "theft" of Held'south honey jewel collection was another headline-grabbing stunt staged by Ziegfeld, Anna realized that her husband was abusing her trust. She started banking her savings in Europe, far from his grasp.
1 disturbing tale that has found its way into several biographies involves Ziegfeld forcing Held to abort a pregnancy in 1909. Held's autobiography--which many historians feel was posthumously revised, or peradventure entirely invented, by her embittered daughter Liane--claims that Ziegfeld wanted zippo to delay Anna's starring in Miss Innocence and forced Anna to submit to a dangerous and illegal abortion. Liane's obsessive hatred of her stepfather makes this story questionable. Moreover, Ziegfeld was never known to be physically cruel to whatever adult female, and then such an deed would be a radical departure from everything we know virtually him. Since he afterwards embraced the opportunity to become a begetter, in that location is aplenty reason to dismiss this story as a fabrication.
This photo of Held appeared on flow canvass music.
We do know that in 1909 Ziegfeld began a prolonged affair with the gorgeous but volatile showgirl Lilliane Lorraine. Held took the continental approach, looking the other way when her hubby indulged in unimposing infidelities with chorus girls. But Ziegfeld defied convention and made this affair a matter of public record. He took Lorraine to pinnacle restaurants, and even installed her in the Ansonia, but floors abroad from Anna. He as well featured Lorraine in Follies product numbers which made the most of her beauty, doing what he could to distract audiences from Lillian's lack of singing or acting ability.
Soon, all of New York guild was talking well-nigh the Ziegfeld-Lorraine liason. At one point, Lorraine married somone else to excite Ziegfeld's jealousy, and so sat by when her married man publicly trounced Ziegfeld in a eating house. Incredibly, Ziegfeld's pursuit of Lorraine continued for years. Even to the most open up-minded, such public scandal was not socially acceptable. After several attempts at reconciliation, Held filed for divorce in 1912, naming Lorraine as ane of several co-respondents. Since Held and Ziegfeld had never legally wed, this filing was little more than an attempt on Held'southward function to preserve her sense of public dignity.
From this point on, Held dismissed suggestions of a "remarriage" with Ziegfeld, and was quoted as saying "Ane does not re-light a dead cigarette." Still, many believe she still nursed private hopes of a reconciliation when she attended a 1913 New Year'due south Eve gala at the Astor Hotel. Her hopes rose when an inebriated Lillian Lorraine argued with Ziegfeld and stormed out, but then Anna watched in helpless fury every bit Ziegfeld spent the balance of the evening courting actress Billie Burke. After choosing to ignore gossip nearly their romance in the months that followed, Held was supposedly shocked when Ziegfeld married Shush in April of 1914. Nonetheless, Held did non waste abroad from heartache. As an international star, she was very much in demand, and remained busy on both sides of the Atlantic.
After Ziegfeld
Anna Held and her daughter Liane.
With the earth plunging into World State of war I, Held adjusted to changes in fashion and popular taste, keeping her public persona as irresistible as ever. She enjoyed continued success in vaudeville and became a tireless spokesperson for her beloved France. A series of death-defying visits to the Centrolineal trenches made her a wartime heroine. Equally the war dragged on in Europe, Held starred in the silent Hollywood one-act Madame la Presidente (1916), then infuriated Ziegfeld by making an acclaimed return to Broadway in a musical produced by his hated rivals, the Shubert Brothers. Follow Me (1916) delighted Held'due south fans and critics. After a relatively brief 2 month run on Broadway, she personally took over management of the touring version and so she could gear up bated time to raise funds for various Centrolineal relief charities.
The year-long bout of Follow Me was a financial success, just the one time tireless Anna presently complained of strange aches and fatigue. She collapsed on stage in Milwaukee in early on 1918 and returned to New York, where she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare course of os marrow cancer. Subsequently months of horrific pain, Anna Held died in New York'due south Savoy Hotel on August 12, 1918. She was only in her tardily 40s. Her $257,000 estate consisted mostly of jewelry, including one necklace valued at $100,000. Ziegfeld'southward lifelong fear of sickness and death (and no doubt a lingering sense of personal guilt) kept him from visiting Anna'southward sickroom or attention her funeral. Her remains were buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Westchester.
If Held is remembered today, it is primarily because of Luise Rainer'south Academy Honor-wining performance as Anna in MGM's The Swell Ziegfeld (1936). This moving, sympathetic portrayal provides a fitting tribute to the woman who'south "dreamy eyes" and continental amuse once captivated audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. Every bit a character, Anna Held was merely equally crucial to the success of the MGM film equally the real Anna was to the success of Florenz Ziegfeld.
Dorsum to: Ziegfeld 101
Source: http://www.musicals101.com/ziegheld2.htm
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