Lillian Lorraine

After a meteoric ascent on Broadway that began with Ziegfeld’s 1910 Follies, Lillian Lorraine went on to become one of the most famous entertainers in America. Her passionately lived life made her a prime target for the tabloid gossip doyens of the day. This biography recounts the early West Coast life of this superstar as well as her coronation on Broadway, her work in silent film, and her sexual liaisons that helped her gain her notoriety. It also covers her eventual disappearance from public life, her alcoholism and her death, which went largely unnoticed. She was buried in 1955 in a pauper’s grave. The book includes first-hand personal anecdotes and observations from recently discovered tapes, which were recorded by a confidante of Lorraine’s.

Nils Hanson is a retired vice president for the international division of Thomas Cook. He is also a Marine Corps veteran who served in the South Pacific during World War II. A graduate of Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, he lives in New York City.

Nils Hanson
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 220
Bibliographic Info: 141 photos, bibliography, filmography, index
Copyright Date: 2018 [2011]
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7527-5
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8935-0
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
Foreword by Richard Ziegfeld      1
Preface      5
1. The Trunk      7
2. The Early Years      10
3. Coast to Coast      15
4. Broadway Bound      17
5. The Promoter      20
6. Ill- Fated Triangle      24
7. The Breakthrough: Up, Up and Away—with Sophie      27
8. Affair of the Necklace      35
9. Enter Bert Williams, Fanny Brice and the Blonde Venus      37
10. The Ziegfeld Follies of 1910—Atlantic City and Beyond      41
11. Enter Nanny Johnson, My Mother      48
12. PR Woes and the Denver Caper      53
13. Anna-Liane-Flo: The Ansonia      56
14. Canadian Getaway      60
15. A Split and Trouble in Paradise      77
16. Ziegfeld vs. Gresheimer      83
17. Catch- Up Time on the Rumor Mill      86
18. Live Reflections      91
19. Enter Billie Burke and the Ghost of the New Amsterdam      96
20. Lillian, on Her Own      102
21. Ziegfeldian Potpourri      106
22. Hollywood Beckons      109
23. The Broadway Fast Track and Ziegfeld’s Frolic      120
24. The Follies of 1918      125
25. Ziegfeld’s Roof Garden and Lillian’s Blue Devil      140
26. Detour and Scandal on the Fast Track      146
27. Marilyn Miller and Frank Carter—Broadway’s Golden Couple      155
28. Lillian Faces Financial Ruin and a Fleeting Comeback      158
29. Dimming Footlights and the Bessie Poole Affair      161
30. End of an Era and Beyond      170
31. Frazzled Silver Lining      176
32. Lillian Hits the Skids—Ziegfeld Redux      181
33. Excommunication      185
34. Final Curtain—Oblivion      186
35. Coda to Lillian and Her Times      191
Epilogue      195
Lillian Lorraine Stage Credits and Filmography      197
Bibliography      201
Index      203

“By interviewing some of the last survivors of the Ziegfeld days and carefully combing through secondary sources with a critical eye, Hanson has created an excellent biography that not only examines a fascinating subject but also explores an era a century past.”—Library Journal.