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''Promotional artwork for 1912 Ziegfeld Follies'' Inspired by the Folies Bergères of Paris , the Ziegfeld Follies were conceived and mounted by Florenz Ziegfeld , reportedly at the suggestion of his then-wife, the entertainer Anna Held . The shows' producers were turn-of-the-century producing titans Klaw And Erlanger . The Follies were lavish Revue s, something between later Broadway shows and a more elaborate high class Vaudeville variety show. Many of the top entertainers of the era (including Eddie Cantor , Fanny Brice , Bert Williams , Will Rogers , Ruth Etting , Helen Morgan , Marilyn Miller , W.C. Fields , Ed Wynn , Nora Bayes , and others) appeared in the shows. The Ziegfeld Follies were also famous for many beautiful chorus girls commonly known as Ziegfeld Girl s (which, over the years, included many future stars such as Marion Davies , Paulette Goddard , Joan Blondell , Nita Naldi , Dorothy Mackaill , Eve Arden , Billie Dove , Gilda Gray , Barbara Stanwyck , Cyd Charisse and Louise Brooks . ( Norma Shearer and Alice Faye were turned down by Ziegfeld for being "not up to standards".) The girls were usually decked in elaborate costumes by designer Erté , which would became the talk of Broadway the following day. After Ziegfeld's death, his widow Billie Burke authorized use of his name for Ziegfeld Follies in 1934 and 1936 . The name was later used by other promoters in New York City , Philadelphia and again on Broadway, with less connection to the original Follies. These latter efforts failed miserably. The 1936 Best Picture winner for that year was The Great Ziegfeld , starring William Powell as the master showman. Co-starring Myrna Loy (as Ziegfeld's second wife Billie Burke), Luise Rainer (as Anna Held, which won her an Academy Award For Best Actress ), and Frank Morgan (as a rival showman). Featuring numbers by Ray Bolger , Dennis Morgan , Virginia Bruce , and Harriet Hoctor , the film gave a glimpse into what the Follies were really like. The MGM blockbuster's show-stopper was "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody", which, by itself, cost more to produce than one of Ziegeld's whole shows. There was also a 1946 feature Motion Picture entitled '' Ziegfeld Follies '' with Fred Astaire , Judy Garland , Lena Horne , William Powell , Gene Kelly , Fanny Brice , Red Skelton , Esther Williams , Cyd Charisse , Lucille Ball , Kathryn Grayson , and others performing songs and sketches similar to those from the original Follies. THE FOLLIES
PERFORMERS: YEAR-BY-YEAR 1907
1908 1909
1910
1911 1912 1913 1914 1915
1916 1917 1918
1919
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1921 1922 1923 1924-25
1927 1931
1934
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1943 1956 1957 EXTERNAL LINKS |
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