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.)

Dion Titheradge, Laurette Taylor, and Philip Merivale

Dion Titheradge (1889-1934), Laurette Taylor (Loretta Helen Cooney, 1883-1946), and Philip Merivale in THE HARP OF LIFE (1916-17), a play written by Miss Taylor’s husband J. Hartley Manners. Photo by White Studios

Carroll and Merivale appeared in another Henderson production, THE DUKE IN DARKNESS (1944): Carroll played the Count d’Aublaye, Merivale the Duke of Laterraine, and Raymond Burr appeared as Voulain.

George Abbott

Photo by White Studios 

Albert Carroll first appeared on Broadway with the Gertrude Kingston Company in 1916. One of his roles in the repertory program was as Tharrabas in Lord Dunsany’s THE QUEEN’S ENEMIES; George Abbott (1887-1995) appeared as the Twin Duke of Ethiopia.

Adele Astaire

Adele Astaire (Adele Marie Austerlitz, 1896-1981) by White Studios.

Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.’s production of SMILES (1930-31) was a disappointment, with just 63 performances — Marilyn Miller’s last show, ROSALIE, had run for 335 and for most of 1928. With a top-notch production team and a starry cast, it sounds sure-fire.

SMILES was Adele Astaire’s penultimate Broadway show, the last before THE BAND WAGON (1931-32). Her Broadway career, dancing with her brother Fred, gradually grew to encompass speaking parts, beginning with Alex A. Aarons’s FOR GOODNESS SAKE (1922), which opened as STOP FLIRTING in London in May 1923. London loved Americans, and the Astaires: the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII and then Duke of Windsor) saw STOP FLIRTING ten times.

LADY, BE GOOD! (1924-25) followed in New York and London, then FUNNY FACE (1927-28), during the London run of which Adele met Lord Charles Cavendish, the younger son of an English duke.

After a two-year Broadway break, the Astaires returned with SMILES in 1930. Even with Marilyn Miller and Eddie Foy Jr., as well as Fred and Adele, SMILES was a bit of a flop. The Astaires’ last show together, in contrast, was a most satisfactory hit: THE BAND WAGON (1931-32) offered audiences Helen Broderick, Tillie Losch, and Frank Morgan. (Adele and Fred sang “I Love Louisa,” and Fred performed “New Sun in the Sky,” both of which can be seen in the 1953 film version.)

The show went on tour, and after a performance in Chicago in March 1932, Adele retired from the stage to marry Lord Charles; they wed in May. 

Ian Maclaren

Ian Maclaren (1875-1952) by White Studios.

A native of Devon, Maclaren made his Broadway début in THE BONNIE BRIER BUSH (1901); a decade later, he supported George Arliss in DISRAELI (1911). (In the aftermath of the TITANIC disaster in April 1912, he organized a benefit performance of HAMLET to mark William Shakespeare’s birthday.) His next Broadway appearance was in THE ZIEGFELD FOLLIES OF 1913.

His later Broadway roles ran the gamut, from a production of Shaw’s ANDROCLES AND THE LION (1915) to THE GREEN RING (1922) and THE LITTLE CLAY CART (1924-25, as Charudatta) with Albert Carroll (“A shampooer who turns monk” in the latter) and Carroll’s frequent co-star Irene Lewisohn. Carroll would appear in the last FOLLIES produced by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., in 1931.

In films, Maclaren appeared in MONSIEUR BEAUCAIRE (1924), a vehicle for Rudolph Valentino; one of his first sound roles was in JOURNEY’S END (1930). By the end of the 1930s, he had slid into uncredited film roles; his last Broadway appearance was in 1941, in Charles Kennedy’s THE SEVENTH TRUMPET.

Elizabeth Brice

Elizabeth Brice (Bessie Shaler, 1885-1965) by White Studios.

Brice — no relation to Fanny, a Ziegfeld perennial — made her Broadway début in Lee and J. J. Shubert’s THE SOCIAL WHIRL (1906 and 1907); she appeared in the ZIEGFELD FOLLIES of 1913, although the IBDb page for the show does not list her part. 

Her Wikipedia page emphasizes her partnership in this period with Charles King (1886-1944), who would later appear in THE BROADWAY MELODY (1929, where he introduced the song “You Were Meant for Me”), THE HOLLYWOOD REVIEW OF 1929 (“Orange Blossom Time”), and CHASING RAINBOWS (1930, “Happy Days are Here Again”). In 1930, Brice and King recorded a dozen duets for the Victor, Columbia, and Brunswick record labels.