Held, Anna

Born in Warsaw in a Jewish family. Her father Schimmle Held, a German by birth, was a glove manufacturer, and her mother, Yvonne Pierre, had French roots. ^[4] In 1881, with the onset of anti-Semitic pogroms, the family fled to Paris . In France, her father’s business soon went bankrupt, and he began working as a janitor, and her mother got a job managing a kosher restaurant. In her youth, Held made a living as a seamstress, and then began to act as a singer in the Jewish theaters of Paris. At the same time, she converted from Judaism to Catholicism. ^[five]

After the death of her father, Held began touring quite a lot in Europe , performing with musical numbers. In 1895, she gave birth to a daughter, Lianna, from Uruguayan playboy Maksimo Carrera, ^[6] and a year later, during performances in London , met Florence Siegfeld, the famous Broadway entertainer. At his invitation, she went to New York , where her Broadway debut took place. Theater critics were not a high opinion of her game, but the audience Held liked. ^[7] Over the next few years, she became one of the brightest stars of the Broadway music scene, ^[8] largely due not to her talent, but to her image that promoted new social freedoms in the post-Victorian era, which was innovative for that time. ^[9]

In 1907, on the advice of Held Zigfeld, he launched on Broadway a series of theatrical productions “ Siegfeld Madness ”, which soon became one of the most brilliant and successful reviews in the theater life of New York. At the same time, Held herself could not take part in the first speeches, as she became pregnant by Zigfeld. However, the child was not born, due to the fact that Held had an abortion. According to the memoirs of her daughter Lianna, Zigfeld himself insisted on abortion. ^[8] Soon, Held and Siegfeld’s relationship began to collapse, he had new lovers, and in 1913 they finally separated. ^[ten]

Since the beginning of the First World War, the actress returned to France, where she played in vaudeville, and also performed at the forefront with concerts for soldiers. ^[11] In 1916, Held appeared on the big screen in her only feature film, Madame President. ^[12] A year later, she went on a tour of the United States with the production of “Follow me”, but in January 1918 she was forced to stop the tour due to health problems. ^[13]

Doctors diagnosed myeloma in the actress, which began to progress dramatically. In newspapers of that period, journalists often wrote that Held's illness was caused by excessive lacing of her corsets, which she practiced so that her waist seemed incredibly narrow. ^[14] Anna Held passed away on August 12 of the same year in New York at the age of 46. ^{[15] [16] The} farewell took place at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on August 14, ^{[13] [17]} after which the actress was buried at the Gates of Heaven cemetery. ^[13] Florence Zigfeld was not present at the funeral, as he had a fear of death.

In 1936, the film " Great Siegfeld " was released, where the role of Held was played by Louise Reiner , who won an Oscar for her. ^[18] In 1976, her daughter Lianna opened a museum in San Jacinto , California , where Anna Held’s personal and scenic items were presented. ^[6]

• Annie's Day of the Broadway , Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2000