Interview

Interview with Lillian Lorraine:

RD: So where did you grow up?

            LL: Well I was born in San Francisco on the New Year in 1892. I went to school at Sacred Heart Convent. I spent my time fantasizing about other places. I lived there until I was about 14. Then my mother and I moved to New York City.

          Before we moved to New York City, my mother and I stayed in Philadelphia for a while.  While I was there I got a job as an entertainer. I loved it but I wanted to be in New York more. So after six weeks we moved to New York City

RD: So what got you interested in the arts?

           LL: Oh! When I was four I was Little Eva in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This was in San Francisco.  Also as I said I was an entertainer in Philadelphia. After we arrived I began to work as a model. Someone even dubbed me as having an ideal American face once.

RD: Wow that must have incredible. Did anyone (like we don’t already know) really mentor in your talent?

        LL:  As you said, everyone knows, Florenz Ziegfeld was a great mentor in my career on Broadway.  Flo was a great inspiration for everyone on Broadway. Music is in his blood.  His father found the Chicago Music College. He discovered me when I was fifteen.

      I was cast in “Miss Innocence” two years later. That’s what sky-rocketed my career. After that I became one of the legendary “Ziegfeld Follies” He was my mentor throughout my entire career.

RD: Haha. Speaking of Broadway, what was it like in that time?

                  LL: Well that was the time of World War I. Neutrality was important at first. But soon after the discovery of the Zimmermann Note the nation wanted war. So the U.S entered the war by declaring war on Germany. A lot of stars went to war even with their status.  As  you know stars in your time don’t go to war. They are too good for it. Not in my time. Any one and everyone went to war.

RD: (except women)

          LL: The year we entered the war, we did our part. Broadway raised awareness for the war. Broadway stars helped with food drives. We Ziegfeld girls represented the U.S.A with our red, white, and blue.

RD: So how did all that affect your work?

        LL: Well, the war affected everyone. I was in this performance and the Ziegfeld Follies of 1918 did a huge part in the war. Miss Kay Laurell, a Ziegfeld girl, posed as the Spirit of France.  This photo was of her and several other women and was great for the nations support. It was even rumored that the French Government ordered 200,000 copies of that photo.

RD: What were some of your major accomplishments?

          LL: Miss Innocence of course. That was one of my starring only starring roles. Actually it was my first starring role. I will forever be proud of it.  I went into film work but it wasn’t really my thing. It became more of a side project to Broadway.

             I also just loved being a Ziegfeld girl. It was the highlight of my life. It was musical numbers and fancy clothes. It was great. It is just what I wanted with my life. The follies were a musical unlike any other. We had elaborate outfits and costumes. We dressed up as anything and everything. It was just perfection on a stage.

RD: So what were major events that led you to where you are?

          LL:  As I said, meeting Flo was the biggest. He basically managed my career for most of it. He put me in his shows. Flo was my “friend”. He produced the show that “put me on the map” so to speak. Also moving to New York was big. I mean you can’t be discovered for Broadway in California.

            Being in “Miss Innocence” put me through the roof on Broadway. I became a Ziegfeld Girl. I got to perform in hundreds of shows. I fell in love. I got married several times. Met wondrous people of all sorts. It was a life I was fit for.

RD: Did you have to overcome anything to be a star?

            LL: Well some. I mean a lot of the other girls hated me. I mean think about it. I could break the rules. I crossed professional and personal lines that they couldn’t even have dreamed of touching. How would that make you feel?  True I was a little wild. I got drunk, I partied.  I still lived life the well.

Also, I am the “alleged” (we all know the truth) reason that Flo and Anna [ Ziegfeld’s first wife] separated. Even though they never married technically, but that’s another story. Even Billie [Burke] said that I was the only one of Flo’s old flames she was jealous of after Flo died.

RD: Well it’s getting to the end. Two more questions. First who inspired you?

            LL: Do I even have to say it? [LL laughs] Flo simply because of all he did. He put show after show on Broadway. He built his own theater. He discovered so many people you can’t even count on two hands.

             He was, no, is a legend. I admit I’m not the most the talented person in the world but he turned me into a star. Flo was as they say “on another level.” No one can top him. Ever. Case closed.

RD: Last one. Do you have any stories for us before you go?

            LL: Well when I was seventeen, I got a “companion”. A  girl who was nice and sweet, no drinking, no swearing, nothing. She was with me for ten years. Afterward she went off to live and have a family.

            Well little would I know was that, her son whom I only met once, would later right a biography on me. Honestly I don’t like it. It says that I was a liar my whole life. About my childhood, where I grew up, everything. It’s not true.

RD: Or is it…. Well that’s all for our interview with Lillian Lorraine. The most fabulous Ziegfeld Diva!

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