Elsie Janis

Elsie Janis (Elsie Bierbower, 1889-1956) in THE CENTURY GIRL (1916-17). Photo by White Studios

Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. did not just produce the ZIEGFELD FOLLIES; his Broadway career actually began with A PARLOR MATCH in 1896 and ran to a revival of SHOW BOAT in 1932. Many of the performers in the FOLLIES started in another Ziegfeld show, or moved on to other Ziegfeld productions.

Elsie Janis never appeared in the ZIEGFELD FOLLIES, but she was featured in some of Charles Dillingham’s productions (beginning with THE HOYDEN, 1907-8) before the joint Dillingham-Ziegfeld musical OVER THE RIVER (1912), to which she also contributed lyrics. 

After other Dillingham shows, Elsie Janis appeared in an even more successful joint production, THE CENTURY GIRL. Dillingham and Ziegfeld also produced ELSIE JANIS AND HER GANG (1919-20), a Janis-penned revue that showcased Miss Janis’s multiple talents as a performer, lyricist, and producer. (Just to underline the fact, she presented her own production of ELSIE JANIS AND HER GANG in 1922.)

Marion Davies

Marion Davies (Marion Cecilia Douras, 1897-1961) by Ira L. Hill (1876-1947).

She first appeared on Broadway in Charles Dillingham’s CHIN CHIN (1914) as a member of the Ensemble. After a named role in NOBODY HOME (1915), she returned to the chorus for Dillingham’s MISS INFORMATION (1915), then another named part in STOP! LOOK! LISTEN! (1915-16). She had finally arrived, joining the 1916 ZIEGFELD FOLLIES with Ina Claire and Fanny Brice.

Photo by Ruth Harriet Louise, MGM’s chief portrait photographer 1925-30.

Legend has it that Marion Davies met William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951) during the run of the 1916 FOLLIES; in the latter half of the decade Hearst took firm control of her career. More than three decades her senior, the heir to great wealth who had gone on to make even more, he had ample confidence in his own judgment as he wagered several fortunes on this lovely, stammering beauty — a mimic and a comedian, whom Hearst wished to mold into another one of those stately Ziegfeld dolls.

Josephine Harriman

The dancer Josephine Harriman by Moffett Studio.

Like Elizabeth Brice and Charles King, Josephine Harriman appeared in Charles Dillingham’s THE SLIM PRINCESS (1911); Elsie Janis was another member of the cast. Her time on Broadway was short, stretching from 1907 (THE GIRL BEHIND THE COUNTER) to 1915 (THE PEASANT GIRL). With Elizabeth Brice, she was a member of the 1913 ZIEGFELD FOLLIES cast.

Moffett photographed her in 1914, when she was a member of the cast of Charles Frohman’s production of THE LAUGHING HUSBAND.