Born 1867, Chicago, Florenz Ziegfeld was the son of the Head of the Chicago Musical College. Immersed into the world of classical music, the young Ziegfeld emerged, as he said, "with a lifelong aversion to musical masterpieces and a great zeal for stage performers".

In 1893, Ziegfeld's father became music director for the World's Fair. He sent the young Florenz to Europe to seek talent. Although he failed to return with musical talent, he did bring back the sideshow. Friedrich Wilhelm Muller, "The Great Sandow", whom Ziegfeld touted as "the world's strongest man" and exhibited him in flesh colored tights, supporting the weight of the entire Trocadero troupe on his back. From this rather bizarre beginning, the intriguing, Florenz Ziegfeld established a new genre of entertainment that changed the world of stage and musical entertainment.

In 1895, London, Ziegfeld spotted a famous young singer known for her sexy eyes, and naughty behavior, Anna Held. Ziegfeld wanted to recruit her for his new entertainment show in America. In showman style, with no assets to back up a contract, Ziegfeld approached Held with a proposal that he manage her in America. Unbeknownst to Held, Ziegfeld secretly sold his personal jewelry $1500 and offered it to her as an advance. Anna Held accepted.

Anna Held took the stage by storm and generated ten years of top revues for Ziegfeld. Her last performance in 1906, "The Parisian Model" became her most famous revue ending with the song "I Can't Make My Eyes Behave". However, Anna Held did not leave the stage. She and Ziegfeld, now lovers, created a dancing musical troupe originally billed as "The Anna Held Girls". This quickly changed debuting in 1907, as the famous Ziegfeld Follies.

By all accounts, Florenz Ziegfeld permanently transformed the musical theater using his innovative showman techniques. He spared no expense in making his shows glittering extravaganzas, using imaginative staging and lighting and hiring the foremost composers, lyricists, costumers, and set designers. And, of course, his main stock in trade was women, scantily clad, sometimes nude, and always beautiful.

Florenz Ziegfeld was not a musician, not a singer, not a songwriter but a promoter, the P.T. Barnum of the musical world. And as a result, today, the Ziegfeld name is known around the world as being synonymous with the best of American Theatre.