{"id":1246,"date":"2016-10-03T13:43:29","date_gmt":"2016-10-03T13:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/?p=1246"},"modified":"2018-08-07T02:50:32","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T02:50:32","slug":"diva-alert-3-marylin-miller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/diva-alert-3-marylin-miller\/","title":{"rendered":"Diva Alert #3 : Marilyn Miller"},"content":{"rendered":"

Diva Alert #3 : Marilyn Miller<\/h3>\n \"\"<\/a><\/span>

Written by Jackson Upperco<\/p>\n

September 30, 2016<\/p>\n<\/font>

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Welcome back to Diva Alert, Performer Stuff\u2019s series on Great Dames from the Golden Age of Broadway. In these posts, we\u2019re taking a look at some of the American Musical Theatre\u2019s most legendary ladies, along with their seminal stage triumphs. This time we\u2019re discussing the baddest Broadway dame of the Roaring \u201820s\u2026<\/p>\n

The Ultimate Ziegfeld Girl \u2013 she had it all: charm, wit, beauty, and talent.\u00a0 Embodying everything impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. sought to glorify, she was the most lauded musical heroine of the \u201820s. Those who saw her on stage later spoke as if they\u2019d spotted a mythical creature. Like Ziegfeld, she represented the birth of the modern American musical. She was Broadway in the \u201820s. She was Marilyn Miller.<\/p>\n

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A vaudevillian from childhood, Miller was discovered by Broadway producer Lee Schubert in 1914 and cast in his annual revues. She was soon poached by Ziegfeld, who featured her in two of his spectacular Follies<\/em>. Recognizing a sensation, the producer then crafted a magnum opus that would showcase both of their brilliance, Sally <\/em>(1920), a Cinderella story about a dishwashing waif who rises to become a Ziegfeld girl. One of the highest grossing musicals of the decade, Sally <\/em>reinforced its master\u2019s showmanship while rocketing its lithe ing\u00e9nue to stratospheric acclaim.<\/p>\n

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But the pair\u2019s association wasn\u2019t so rosy. With affections both paternal and carnal, Ziegfeld sought to tame and control his superstar. When Miller married a Follies <\/em>co-star in 1919, Ziegfeld had the groom fired. When the widowed Miller married again \u2013 to scandal-embroiled Jack Pickford \u2013 her relationship with Ziegfeld soured even further. In retaliation, she signed with his rival, Charles Dillingham, for whom she starred in two productions, including Sunny<\/em> (1925), another landmark success.<\/p>\n

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Miller\u2019s marriage disintegrated and she reconciled \u2013 professionally \u2013 with Ziegfeld. Over the next several years, Miller starred in a hit, a flop, and three films (two of which were adaptations of past triumphs). After Ziegfeld\u2019s death, Miller appeared in the topical revue As Thousands Cheer <\/em>(1933), which promised to revitalize her career. But a marriage to a chorus boy, a high asking price, and chronic ill health were inhibiting. She died in 1936 of a brain infection following a sinus operation.\u00a0With so little of her work preserved, Ziegfeld\u2019s greatest girl is for today\u2019s audience only a legend. I\u2019m sure they wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.<\/p>\n

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DID YOU KNOW? <\/strong>Marilyn Monroe\u2019s professional name was taken in homage to Miller.<\/p>\n

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Miller Roles You Should Know<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Various Roles in The Ziegfeld Follies of 1919<\/em><\/h4>\n
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In the second of her two appearances in the Follies <\/em>\u2013 then in its 13th<\/sup> edition and a veritable Broadway staple \u2013 Miller dazzled audiences as the production\u2019s leading lady. The highlight of the evening was a minstrel show in which Miller put over Irving Berlin\u2019s classic \u201cMandy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sally of the Alley in Sally <\/em>(1920)<\/h4>\n