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THE ZIEGFELD GIRL: WHO WAS SHE?

© Joyce E. Eberly

Above all, the Ziegfeld girl was beautiful in both face and form. As conceived by Florenz Ziegfeld, the "glorifier of the American girl," they were displayed to their audiences in scanty costumes, sometimes nude. Perhaps the most famous nude performer was Josephine Baker, who achieved later notoriety performing in Paris dressed only in a "skirt" of bananas.

With the exception of Baker, the Ziegfeld girls were white, described by Nadine Wells in her book, "Ziegfeld Girl: Image and Icon in Culture," as "living monuments to new ideals of white heterosexual identity," 1900-1932.

Nevertheless, many of the Ziegfeld girls went on to become film stars, most notably Billie Dove. Her popularity was guaranteed when she appeared in the 1919 Follies as the "living embodiment" of Irving Berlin's song, "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody." On the basis of her fame in the Follies, she went to Hollywood in 1922 and soon became a star in silent films.

With the advent of "talkies," rumor had it that Billie's voice was unsuitable to the new medium, but in actuality her voice had a "silky quality" that disproved the rumors. Between 1929 and 1932, she also proved herself to be a competent and versatile actress.

Unfortunately, her next picture, "Blondie of the Follies," in which she played a "gutsy showgirl competing with Marion Davies," would be her last film. William Randolph Hearst was fearful that his protégé, Davies, would be overshadowed by Dove. Dove's character was changed considerably, making her "more of a heavy." Although she remained in the public eye, she decided to give up her career for marriage to Bob Kenaston.

Another Ziegfeld Girl, Anita Travis, who died at the age of 87 in 1994, went on to have an enormously successful career in silent films. She developed into a slapstick comedienne in Hal Roach films, working with such greats at Mabel Normand and Laurel and Hardy. She eventually married bandlieader Red Stanley in 1930 and retired from acting when her son was seven years old.

Shirley Travis (born 1907), on the other hand, left the stage after marriage and raised four children. She remained beautiful and vivacious, giving her secret for living as exercise and diet.

Other Ziegfeld girls, however, were dogged by tragedy. One poisoned herself, one committed suicide by jumping from a window, one died of heart failure at an early age, and others died penniless and alone.

Martha Mansfield (born Martha Ehrlich in Mansfield, Ohio, in 1899), began her career as an artist's and photographer's model in New York City. Eventually, she began appearing on Broadway in pantomimes and musicals. It was in 1918 that she became a Ziegfeld girl, appearing the the Follies and Ziegfeld's Midnight Frolic of 1918.

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