His father ran the
Chicago Musical College and later opened a nightclub, the
Trocadero, to profit from the 1893
World's Fair. To help his father's nightclub succeed, Ziegfeld hired and managed the strongman
Eugen Sandow. In London, during a trip to Europe, Ziegfeld met
Anna Held, a Polish-French singer of
Jewish descent. His promotion of Held in America brought about her meteoric rise to national fame. Her success in a series of his Broadway shows, especially
A Parisian Model (1906), was a major reason for his starting a series of lavish revues in 1907. Much of Held's popularity was due to Ziegfeld's creation of publicity stunts and rumors fed to the American press. Ziegfeld's stage spectaculars, known as the
Ziegfeld Follies, began with Follies of 1907, which opened on July 7, 1907, and were produced annually until 1931. These
extravaganzas, with elaborate costumes and sets, featured beauties chosen personally by Ziegfeld in production numbers choreographed to the works of prominent composers such as
Irving Berlin,
George Gershwin and
Jerome Kern. To finance the construction, Ziegfeld borrowed from
William Randolph Hearst, who took control of the theater after Ziegfeld's death. The Ziegfeld Theatre opened in February 1927 with Ziegfeld's production of
Rio Rita, which ran for nearly 500 performances. This was followed by
Show Boat, This musical, which concerned racial discrimination in the South during the late nineteenth century, was a collaboration between Ziegfeld, Urban, and composer
Jerome Kern. The musical has been revived four times on Broadway, winning multiple
Tony Awards. The score features several classics such as "
Ol' Man River" and "
Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man". Ziegfeld lost much of his money in the
stock market crash. In May 1932 he staged a revival of
Show Boat that ran for six months—a hit, by Depression standards. That same year, he brought his Follies stars to
CBS Radio with
The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air. ==Personal life==