AS SEEN ON TV: LILLIANE LORRAINE

LILLIANE LORRAINE

AS SEEN IN:
"Ziegfeld: The Man And His Women"

AS PLAYED BY:
Valerie Perrine

Lillian Lorraine (Ealallean De Jacques) was born on Friday, January 01, 1892 in San Francisco and was a famous dancer. She died on Sunday, April 17, 1955, in New York City, New York.

From the "Find A Grave" website:
We do know that in 1909 Ziegfeld began a prolonged affair with the gorgeous but volatile showgirl Lilliane Lorraine. Anna Held took the "sophisticated" continental approach, looking the other way when her husband indulged in discreet infidelities with chorus girls. But Ziegfeld made this affair a matter of public record, taking Lorraine to top restaurants, and even installing her in the Ansonia, just floors away from Anna. He also featured Lorraine in Follies production numbers which made the most of her beauty, distracting audiences from the young girl's lack of singing or acting talent. Soon, all of New York society was talking about the Ziegfeld-Lorraine relationship.

At one point, Lorraine married to excite Ziegfeld's jealousy, then sat by when her husband publicly trounced Ziegfeld in a restaurant. Incredibly, Ziegfeld's pursuit of Lorraine continued. Even to the most open-minded, such public scandal was not acceptable. After several attempts at reconciliation, Anna Held filed for divorce in 1912, naming Lorraine as one of several co-respondents. Since Held and Ziegfeld had never legally wed, this filing was little more than an attempt on Held's part to preserve her sense of public dignity.

From this point on, Anna Held dismissed suggestions of a "remarriage" with Ziegfeld, and was quoted as saying "One does not re-light a dead cigarette." However, many believe she still nursed private hopes of a reconciliation when she attended a 1913 New Year's Eve gala at the Astor Hotel. Her hopes rose when an inebriated Lillian Lorraine argued with Ziegfeld and stormed out, but then Anna watched in helpless fury as Ziegfeld spent the rest of the evening courting actress Billie Burke.

A big thanks goes out to J.r. Klink, who first pointed out this video....

BCnU!