The Guy Sisters, Christiane & Mary Guy, vintage French Postcard, circa 1920s via
Category Archives: Chorus Girls
Anna Held by Aimé Dupont (1900)
Helene Anna Held (1872 – 1918), known professionally as Anna Held, was a Broadway stage performer and singer, born in Warsaw, Poland she started her career with stints in theatres in Paris and London, she is most often associated with theatre producer and impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, her common-law husband.
Anna Held, full-length photo, facing right, with right hand on hat and left hand on hip by Aimé Dupont, 1900 via
Anna Held, full-length photo, facing right, with right hand on hat and left hand on hip by Aimé Dupont, 1900 via
Sally Rand (1969)
Evelyn Nesbit by Otto Sarony (1901)
Evelyn Nesbit by Otto Sarony (1901)
Las Vegas Showgirl Dale Strong (1952)
Ziegfeld Girl Anna Held
Helene Held (1872 – 1918) was a Polish-born French stage performer and singer, most often associated with impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, her common-law husband.
Touring through Europe, Held was appearing in London in 1896 when she met Florenz Ziegfeld. Ziegfeld asked her to return to New York City with him and she agreed. He set about creating a wave of public interest in her, by feeding stories about her to the American press, such as her having had ribs surgically removed.
From 1905, Held enjoyed several successes on Broadway which, apart from bolstering Ziegfeld’s fortune, made her a millionaire in her own right. Ziegfeld’s talent for creating publicity stunts ensured that Held’s name remained well known. Held suggested the format for what would eventually become the famous Ziegfeld Follies in 1907, and helped Ziegfeld establish the most lucrative phase of his career.
In 1909, Ziegfeld began an affair with the actress Lillian Lorraine; Held remained hopeful that his fascination would pass and he would return to her, but instead he turned his attentions to another actress Billie Burke, whom he would marry in 1914.
The film The Great Ziegfeld (1936) tells a sanitized version of the story of the Ziegfeld-Held relationship. Luise Rainer won an Academy Award for her performance as Held.
Anna Held via
Anna Held
A Collection of Photos Featuring Mack Sennett´s “Bathing Beauties”
According to laphamsquarterly.org Mack Sennett gave Chaplin, Arbuckle, and Mabel Normand their first breaks, and was one of the founding patrons of comedy. But Sennett was also responsible for the concept of the “Bathing Beauty”—and, by extension, filmic eye-candy as we know it today.
The “bathing beauties,” themselves, were a a group of young starlets who appeared bare-legged in Sennett’s comedies. They were particularly popular and became pin-up girls for the soldiers of the First World War. They included Gloria Swanson, Marie Prevost, Phyllis Haver, Juanita Hansen, Claire Anderson, and Mary Thurman.
The sex appeal of these young actresses raised the ire of some temperance activists, and Sennett received hundreds of letters protesting his exploitation of these women’s bodies. Despite such protests, the bathing beauties remained quite popular.
The Sennett Bathing Beauties would continue to appear through 1928.
1915 via
1915 via
Marvel Rea, 1919 via
Bathing Beauties (Credit: Collection of Dave and Ali Stevenson) via
1915 via
1915 via
Carole Lombard and Mack Sennett; far right, with a white hat and dark suit. It was taken during a seaside shoot in 1928, while Lombard was part of Sennett’s troupe via
Vintage Photos of Ziegfeld Follies Girls
The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. It was founded by Florenz Ziegfeld and his wife Anna Held in 1907 – the inspiration was the Parisian Folies Bergère.
The Ziegfeld Follies were also famous for many beautiful chorus girls commonly known as Ziegfeld girls, usually wearing elaborate costumes by designers such as Erté, Lady Duff Gordon or Ben Ali Haggin.
Ziegfeld girl, Marion Benda c. 1920’s via
Ziegfeld Model by Alfred Cheney Johnston via
Jean Ackerman, Jeanne Audree, Myrna Darby and Evelyn Groves by Alfred Cheney Johnston, ca. 1927 via
Lilyan Tashman performing in Ziegfeld follies via
Ziegfeld Follies by Alfred Cheney Johnston via
Ziegfeld Girl Mary Eaton by Alfred Cheney Johnston via
Marion Davies, Ziegfeld girl, by Alfred Cheney Johnston, 1924 via
Ziegfeld Follies via
Ziegfeld Follies via
Barbara Dean, Ziegfeld Follies via
Early Film Dancer Annabelle Moore (1878-1961)
Annabelle Moore (1878 – 1961) was an American dancer and actress who was quite popular in her youth. She appeared in at least nine films beween 1894 and 1897. The films were dance films and included “A Mermaid Dance”, “Butterfly Dance” and “Serpentine Dance”.
The sale of her films was further boosted in December 1896 when it was revealed that she had been approached to appear naked at a private dinner party at Sherry’s Restaurant – It is even said she introduced eroticism in film.
In 1907 Annabelle starred as the Gibson Bathing Girl in the first of the Ziegfeld Follies.
In 1910 she married Edward James Buchan. He died in 1958 and Annabelle died penniless in Chicago in 1961. In her obituary in the New York Times it was said Annabelle:
“was the symbol of beauty in her day. She was billed as ‘the original Gibson Girl’ because of her striking resemblance to the Charles Dana Gibson portrait.”
Annabelle had a similar appearance to the Gibson Girl. But as far as Gibson modeling his idealization of the perfect woman on Annabelle, there is little evidence that he did (source).
Annabelle Moore, 1900s via
Annabelle Moore, 1908 via
Annabelle Butterfly Dance (1894)
FROM THE BYGONE 
