Two bad brown eyes, I am their slave.
My lips may say "run away from me",
But my eyes say, "Come and play with me".
(Extract from one of Anna Held's signature songs, "I Just Can’t Make My Eyes Behave").
French postcard by S.I.P., no. 0501. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.
Anna Held was one of the major stage performers of her time, at the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th Century. She had been drawn by Toulouse-Lautrec, photographed by the famed Reutlinger Studio and was known for her charisma, her carefully nurtured glamorous image, her expressive eyes and her hourglass figure. Noted entertainer Eddie Cantor said in 1934: "Anna Held was the most buoyant and cheerful spirit that ever swept across our stage. To this day, stage-hands throughout America doff their hats at the mention of her name." When her last show, 'Follow Me', opened in Broadway in November 1916, she was greeted by reviews such as "There is no one today and there never has been anyone who can do the sort of things Anna Held does with half the snap, a third of the chic or a tenth the interest she manages to crowd into the moments that are hers onstage". One critic even dubbed her 'The Sarah Bernhardt of musical comedy'.
Her name will forever be linked to that of American producer Florenz Ziegfeld, with whom she would be involved in a professional and romantic relationship. She is said to have inspired him with the concept of his famous 'Follies' by suggesting he adopt the French revue-style format for what would become his signature shows. She was also a pioneer in the movie world, as she had been filmed as early as 1901 by the Mutoscope and Biograph Company. She had experienced poverty after she had to leave her native country and was orphaned before she was twenty. In the U.S., she presented herself as French, forgetting about her Polish and Jewish roots. A Parisian-inspired persona, alluring and risqué, was undoubtedly more marketable. To her credit, Anna had left Warsaw when she was a child and was not known to be a very religious person. After the death of her parents, she had lost her ties to the past. In a sense, she paved the way for other women who chose to pass off as French, such as movie actresses Renee Adoree (who was British), Jetta Goudal (who was Dutch and who, interestingly enough, also hid her Jewish ancestry), Fifi D’Orsay (who was Canadian) or Yola D’Avril (who was Belgian).
French postcard by S.I.P., 85e série, no. 8. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.
French postcard by S.I.P., no. 107/1. This company published a series of postcards showing photomontages of actresses in water. They called these series 'Les Ondines', which could be translated into 'The Bathing Beauties'.
Difficult times
Anna Held was born as Helene Anna Held in Warsaw, the Russian Empire, now Poland, around 1870. Her gravestone reads 1872, but this is not a reliable source.
Her father, Shimmle Maurice Held, was a glovemaker of German parentage, and her mother, Yvonne Pierre, was, according to several sources, of French origin.
The assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881 was followed by a wave of antisemitism, and the Held family fled to France, to Paris.
Anna’s father’s glove business soon floundered, and Yvonne opened a restaurant, which also went bankrupt.
At the time, Anna was said to have earned some money by working in the Paris garment district and by singing and selling flowers in the streets.
French postcard by S.I.P., no. 3. This company also produced a series of postcards showing actresses coming out of the cover of a famous newspaper. In Anna Held’s case, it was 'Le Figaro', published on 29 October 1901. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.
Stage debuts in London and Paris
Around 1884, Shimmle Maurice passed away, and Anna and her mother relocated to England.
Anna, who was fluent in Yiddish, soon joined Yisrol Gradner’s company in London before being hired by Jacob Adler’s company at Smith’s Theatre. Around that time, Yvonne died.
For Adler, Anna notably played in 'Shulamith', Abraham Goldfaden’s famous Yiddish play. In 1887, a false fire alarm caused a panic at Smith’s Theatre, and 17 people died. After the tragedy, audiences stayed away, and the place closed shortly after.
Anna decided to go back to Paris, where she soon successfully turned to music halls and 'cafés chantants'. She was pretty, had stage presence and developed into a popular song-and-dance artist.
Anna loved Paris so much that, later, she would choose to claim it as her birthplace. She bought a four-story townhouse in the posh Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, where she would return regularly, even after she had moved to the U.S.
French postcard by S.I.P., no. 87/7. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.
French postcard by S.I.P., no. 941. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris. Sent by mail in 1904. The S.I.P. company produced this series of photomontages showing actresses adorning a fan. In Anna Held's case, they even went so far by chosing a portrait of her holding a fan herself, a kind of 'mise en abyme' we could say.
A marriage and a daughter
In 1894, Anna Held married middle-aged Uruguayan playboy Maximo Carrera, and they soon had a daughter, Liane. The couple quickly separated, but it seems that Anna never officially divorced Carrera, who passed away in 1908.
Anna didn’t especially show maternal feelings towards Liane, who spent most of her childhood in French boarding schools and whose existence was carefully hidden from public view until 1906, to maintain her mother’s youthful image.
Much later, Liane would write: "It was practically the life of a princess in a fairy tale that my beautiful mother was living. Everywhere, the whole world was at her feet. Why should an insignificant child intrude?"
It was probably during this period that Anna converted to Catholicism, more likely by convenience than by conviction.
Her husband was indeed Catholic. Furthermore, she knew that antisemitism still endured and, having no more close links to Judaism, she found it simpler and safer to become a Catholic.
French postcard by S.I.P., no. 1442. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.
Florenz Ziegfeld
In the mid-1890s, Anna Held was a name to reckon with in show business, not only in France but also in England, which liked her piquant 'Parisian' charm. She notably had a signature song called 'Won’t You Come and Play with Me?', which she performed in a heavy French accent.
In April 1896, she starred in the revue 'Ohé l’amour!' at La Scala in Paris and, in the summer of the same year, she was performing in London at the Palace Theatre of Varieties. American producer Florenz Ziegfeld, who was seeking new talent for a forthcoming Broadway revival of 'A Parlor Match', spotted her and quickly signed her. They fell in love and would soon begin to live together.
In September, Anna made her Broadway debut in 'A Parlor Match'. Ziegfeld cleverly incorporated the song 'Won’t You Come and Play With Me' among the musical numbers. Anna’s reviews were mixed, but audiences liked her. To promote the show, Ziegfeld devised a publicity stunt to make people believe that Anna was taking daily fresh milk baths to preserve her beauty.
She then took off on her first American tour with 'A Parlor Match', which ended in March 1897. Her next Broadway play, 'La Poupée', which opened on the 21st of October 1897, was an ill-advised vehicle and closed after only fourteen performances. Ziegfeld felt that Anna’s skills would be better suited to a Vaudeville tour and sent her on the road. She spent several months performing all across the U.S.A.
A new Broadway show, 'The French Maid', opened in September 1898 but didn’t get very good reviews.
French postcard by K.F. Éditeurs, Paris, no. 90 / 87. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris. Caption: Scala.
American postcard, sent by mail from New York to Budapest.
Her first two big hits in America
Anna Held needed a hit to firmly establish herself at the top of her profession in the U.S.A.
It came with 'Papa’s Wife », which perfectly showcased her talents and which ran on Broadway from November 1899 to March 1900, before successfully going on tour.
Ziegfeld had spared no expense: it had eye-catching outfits, beautiful chorus girls, strong support from popular comedians Charles A. Bigelow and Eva Davenport, and even an automobile number featuring a De Dion-Bouton car.
In 1901, the American Mutoscope and Biograph Co. filmed her in a famous drinking scene taken from 'Papa’s Wife'. Their catalogue listed number. 1863 (Anna in bust view) and nr. 1864 (Anna in full length). They could be projected onto a screen for group viewing or watched in coin-operated machines by one person at a time.
Another Broadway crowd-pleaser, 'The Little Duchess', followed from October 1901 to April 1902. Her gorgeous costumes elicited praise from her feminine audience. As it has been the case with 'Papa’s Wife', 'The Little Duchess' was also a hit on tour.
French postcard in the Series Collection Artistique du Vin Désilès by S.I.P. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris. Caption: “I find the Désilès wine delicious and very comforting”.
Ups and downs
Anna Held was less lucky with her next two plays. 'Mam’selle Napoleon' (December 1903 - January 1904) was a flop, and in 'Higgledy Piggledy', which opened in October 1904, Anna was outshone by Marie Dressler, who got the best reviews and stole the show from her.
In June 1905, an article in The Telegraph detailed her Polish and Jewish background, which she denied point-blank. In September 1906, Anna’s daughter’s existence was revealed, but at the time, she was curiously presented as an adopted child.
Anna came back in top form with the risqué musical 'The Parisian Model' (November 1906 - June 1907). Two songs especially stood out: 'I Just Can’t Make My Eyes Behave' and 'It’s Delightful to be Married'. The latter was the English-language adaptation, with lyrics written by Anna herself, of 'La petite Tonkinoise', Vincent Scotto’s famous French song, which would become a hit for Josephine Baker in 1930. After it closed on Broadway, she toured with 'The Parisian Model' for several months.
In September 1908, she eventually admitted that Liane, who had just made her first trip to the U.S.A., was her biological child. However, incorrigible Anna tried, rather unsuccessfully, to shave a few years off her daughter’s age in order not to appear as the mother of a teenage girl.
Later, both made efforts to know each other better, but their relationship would never be a normal one. Liane always stayed in her famous mother’s shadow, especially when she went on an acting career on her own in the 1910s, more often being referred to as 'Anna Held’s daughter'.
French postcard by Etoile, Paris, no. 155. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.
Lillian Lorraine
In November 1908, Anna Held’s new starring vehicle, the visually stunning 'Miss Innocence', opened on Broadway and was advertised with a huge electric sign, eighty feet long and forty feet high. It was promoted by Ziegfeld as the largest one in America. Always looking for new spectacular effects, he devised an aeroplane number which became one of the production’s highlights.
Anna got unanimous praise for her performance in 'Miss Innocence', but it also marked the beginning of the end of her love affair with the famous producer.
In the cast was indeed a young and beautiful girl called Lillian Lorraine, who was as temperamental as Anna was easy-going. Ziegfeld fell in love with her. He would make her a star, and they had an on-and-off affair which lasted several years. When 'Miss Innocence' closed on Broadway on the 1st of May 1909, Lorraine was no longer in it. She was ready for bigger things, as she was slated to be one of the stars of the 'Ziegfeld Follies' of 1909, which opened in June.
In October 1909, Anna began a triumphant tour with 'Miss Innocence', which lasted until April 1910.
In 1910, she appeared for the first and only time in the 'Ziegfeld Follies', but it was not in the flesh. In fact, the ever-innovative Ziegfeld had commissioned a short from the Edison Company showing Anna as Halley’s Comet, which was projected on stage during a musical number called 'The Comet and the Earth'.
German postcard by N.P.G. (Neue Photographische Gesellschaft), Berlin, no. 322/9. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.
American postcard by Rotograph, New York, no. B 1861.
A divorce from Ziegfeld
In December 1910, Anna Held got a four-week engagement at the Palace of Varieties in London. Back in the U.S. in 1911, she soon went again on an extensive tour with 'Miss Innocence', which finally ended in March 1912.
In April 1912, she filed for divorce and sailed to France. Although they never officially married, Anna and Ziegfeld were considered to be legally wed, as they had been living together for more than seven years. That was called a common-law marriage. The divorce became final in January 1913.
After having occasionally appeared on stage in Paris and in London, Anna came back to the U.S. in September. The American Kinemacolor Company soon took her to the Central Park Zoo and featured her in the short Elevating an Elephant (1913).
That same month, under impresario John Cort’s management, she began a tour across the U.S.A. with a vaudeville troupe, but without Ziegfeld’s backing and expertise, the results were disappointing. The show was called 'Anna Held’s All-Star Variete Jubilee' and closed on Broadway in January 1914, after a disheartening run of eight performances.
It was not a happy experience for Anna, who decided to ask for Ziegfeld’s advice. He helped her to go on tour with a $3,000 a week Vaudeville act, which was generally well-received by audiences and critics alike.
Postcard sent by mail in Belgium. The Belgian stamp on the back was first issued in 1893 and was in circulation for about 20 years.
First World War I
In May, Anna Held was back in Paris, and in August, Germany declared war against France.
She soon participated in the war effort by entertaining troops and wounded soldiers and by helping to organise charity bazaars. Her contributions in that field were greatly appreciated. In October 1915, she returned to the U.S., where she played some vaudeville dates.
For Oliver Morosco Photoplay Company, she then starred in her first and only feature-length film, Madame La Présidente (1916), which was adapted from a 1913 Broadway hit. Thereafter, she returned to Vaudeville for several months, campaigned for America to join the Allied troops and still helped to raise funds for war-related causes across the country.
In summer 1916, she signed with the Shubert Brothers, for whom she starred in the Broadway musical 'Follow Me' from November 1916 to February 1917. One of her dresses, the 'peacock gown', created a sensation. After it closed, Anna purchased the rights to the show and took it on the road.
In April 1917, her hopes came true when the United States entered the War.
French postcard by Etoile, Paris, no. 181. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.
French postcard by Etoile, Paris, no. 182. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.
A sad end
As 'Follow Me' toured all across the U.S.A., Anna Held began to be plagued over the months with fatigue and health problems. On the 20th of January 1918, she collapsed in Milwaukee, was diagnosed with pleurisy and had to withdraw. Without her, the box office of the lengthy 'Follow Me' tour fell off, and the company soon disbanded.
In February, she was transferred to a hospital in Asherville and was finally back in New York in April. Anna was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of bone marrow cancer, of which some of the most common complications are anaemia, weakening of the immune system, bone demineralisation and renal problems.
Her physical condition gradually deteriorated, and she passed away on the 12th of August.
Her friend, famous actress and singer Lillian Russell, took charge of Anna’s funeral and bought a site in New York’s Gate of Heaven Cemetery, where she was interred in an Empire-style grave.
In the rather fictionalised biopic The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Anna Held was portrayed by Luise Rainer, who got a Best Actress Oscar for her performance.
British postcard by Davidson Brothers, Series 3005-A.
Text and postcards: Marlene Pilaete.
No comments:
Post a Comment