American Musical Theatre

Biography of Olive Thomas (1894-1920), whose show business career closely paralleled that of the legendary Marilyn Monroe.

Biographical sketch of Billie Dove, for whom Irving Berlin wrote "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody"in the 1919 Ziegfeld Follies. She went on to build a successful career as an actress in both silent and talking films.

This covers the final years of Ruth Etting until her death in 1978.

This covers Ruth Etting's New York career, when she appeared in the 1927 Ziegfeld Follies, starred on radio and in two-reeler "shorts" produced by Warner Brothers' Vitaphone Studies. It was during this period that she became the quintessential torch singer.

Biography of the renowned torch singer, Ruth Etting, covering her early years in David City, Nebraska, to her life and career in Chicago.

Biography of Gilda Gray, whose dance, the shimmy, scandalized audiences, and who appeared in the 1922 Ziegfeld Follies.

A biography of Bert Williams (1863-1922), the first black singer/comedian/actor in America to appear with white performers, and the first African American to star in the Ziegfeld "Follies."

Account of what made a Ziegfeld Girl what she was, including short biographies of some of the more famous "girls."

Biography of Nora Bayes, an American singer and songwriter, best known for writing the lyrics to "Shine On, Harvest Moon."

Biographical sketch of the beautiful and tempestuous Anna Held (born ?1873), the first Mrs. Ziegfeld. A star in the Folies-Bergere, she was discovered by Ziegfeld and starred in several plays as well as the 1907 Follies. Her life was cut short in 1918 after she was afflicted with a type of ...