Profile of Anna Held on Famous Like Me

Anna Held (March 8, 1872 - August 12, 1918) was a Polish-born stage performer, most often associated with impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, her common-law husband.

Born Helene Anna Held in Warsaw, Poland, Held was the daughter of a Jewish glove maker, Shimmle (aka Maurice) Held, and his French-Jewish wife, Yvonne Pierre. Sources indicate various birth dates: 1865 the earliest, 1873 the latest. In 1881, anti-semitic pogroms forced the family to flee to Paris, France. When her father's glovemaking business failed, he found work as a janitor, while her mother operated a kosher restaurant. Held began working in the garment industry, then found work as a singer in Jewish theatres in Paris and, later, after her father's death, London, where her roles included the title role in a production by Jacob Adler of Abraham Goldfaden's Shulamith; she was also in Goldfaden's ill-fated Paris troupe, whose cashier stole their money before they ever played publicly.

Her vivacious and animated personality proved popular, and her career as a stage performer began to gain momentum. She was soon known for her risque songs, and willingness to show her legs on stage. Around this time, she became the wife of a much-older Uruguayan playboy, Maximo Carrera, with whom she had a daughter, Liane, who was born in 1895, shortly after their 1894 marriage, and who became an actress and producer, sometimes billed as Anna Held Jr.

Touring through Europe she was appearing in London in 1896 when she met 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 United States press. By the time Held and Ziegfeld arrived in New York, she was already the subject of intense public speculation. When she finally performed, the critics were dismissive of her, but the public liked her.

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 become the famous Ziegfeld Follies in 1907, and helped Ziegfeld establish the most lucrative phase of his career. In 1909 he began an affair with the actress Lilliane 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.

Held spent the years of World War I working in vaudeville, and touring France, performing for French soldiers and raising money for the war effort. She came to be regarded as a war heroine for her contributions, and was highly regarded for the courage she displayed in travelling to the frontline to be where she could do the most good. After the war ended, she returned to America and made two films in Hollywood but her health was failing.

She collapsed onstage in 1918 and died after a few months from multiple myeloma at the age of 46.

After her death, Ziegfeld was castigated by the media he had so studiously courted, for his apparent indifference to Held's illness, and his notable absence from her funeral.

The film The Great Ziegfeld (1936) tells an often glamorised story of the Ziegfeld, Held and Billie Burke triangle. Actress Luise Rainer won an Academy Award for her performance as Held. Ziegfeld and Burke were played by William Powell and Myrna Loy, who were long-time screen partners themselves.

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