Ziegfeld Girls - JESSIE REED BIOGRAPHY

 

Ziegfeld Girls - JESSIE REED BIOGRAPHY

There were hundreds of Ziegfeld Girls...but I am only going to highlight the ones that really pique my interest. But, I HIGHLY recommend the book Jazz Age Beauties: the lost collection of Ziegfeld photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston by Robert Hudovernik. I need to buy it myself actually, but I have checked it out thousands of times from my work and just look at the beautiful pictures. They are truly breathtaking. You will also see some familiar faces like Gloria Swanson, Norma Shearer, Clara Bow and see some new faces as well. Some aren't even named which is sad because they are just breathtaking.

Two other great books that I just love to look at are The Ziegfeld Touch: the life and times of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. by Richard Ziegfeld and Ziegfeld Follies by Marjorie Farnsworth.

Anyways, down to business. I introduce you now to Miss Jessie Reed. Another Ziegfeld beauty who was plagued by the Ziegfeld "curse." She had a great career with stardom and rich suitors, but died penniless and alone. I was drawn to her because, well, we share the same name...so I gotta connect with her on that level.

Like Myrna Darby, I don't know much about Jessie's early life, like where she was born, her birth date, etc. first appeared on stage in 1918 when she was discovered by Jake Schubert. She was quickly stolen away by Florenz Ziegfeld who put her in his 1919 edition of the Midnight Frolic...the more "risque" version of the Follies.

She continued to work on the rooftop, but also appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies from 1921 until 1924. Talk about being a busy girl!

Busy girl is right! Jessie soon became more famous (or infamous) for her life OFF the stage. If I may quote the moronic Kanye West..."I ain't sayin' she a gold digger." But...actions speak louder than words. I will give her credit for the fact that she didn't apologize for any of her actions, she knew who she was and what she was doing.

Jessie had her fair share of suitors and husbands for that matter. Her first marriage was to a black face comedian named Oliver de Brow. The two had a daughter named Ann. Apparently the two divorced after Oliver killed a man in a duel, which is a pretty good reason to divorce someone.

Her second "supposed" marriage was to another performer named Lew Reed. I have read conflicting reports as to whether they were actually married or if they were just living together for a time. After that, she married advertisement executive, Bill Young. After him was millionaire Dan Caswell.

Her last husband was named Leonard Reno, who actually visited her in the hospital before she died. He and even his new wife donated blood to try and save Jessie's life. Obviously, none of the marriages lasted. Her ex-husbands found her to be greedy, manic, and too high maintenance.

By 1935, Jessie was alone and broke. She got a few dollars from various theater charities every once in awhile that kept her fed and clothed.

Jessie Reed passed away at age 42. She became a moral lesson to young girls about what happens when you become too spoiled.Apparently she was buried at either Oliver/Olivet Cemetery. I am not sure of the state, but I think it is in New York.

Annie de Brow

Her daughter, Annie de Brow was actually going to audition for the Follies in 1932, but Ziegfeld passed away. She and her mother were not close, in fact Jessie rarely even talked about her. She was sent away as a baby to live with Oliver de Brow's family in Texas. I believe I read that Annie passed away sometime in the 1970s.

Biography: 

Beautiful and mercurial Jessie Reed was discovered by Jake Schubert in 1918 and put in the cast of his revue, "The Passing Show." Her dark good looks and graceful dancing captured attention, so Schubert installed her in the Sigmund Romberg musical "Sinbad" where her skill determined Florenz Ziegfeld to steal her for his 1919 Midnight Frolic. She stayed on in Ziegfeld's 1920 rooftop entertainment, "The Girls of 1920," and was featured in the Follies from 1921 to 1924.

Jessie Reed's greatest performances did not take place on the stage of the New Amsterdam Theater. In the 1920s she became famous as one of the most shameless gold-diggers in the country. She married twice for love, to blackface vaudevillian Oliver de Brow and performer Lew Reed, but found passion turned to dispassion all too quickly, so she opted for money, marrying two millionaires and an heir to a fortune. All found her high maintenance and manic.

By 1935, she was alone, impoverished, and receiving relief money from theatrical charities. She attempted to support herself as a nightclub hostess in Chicago, but was incapable of keeping regular hours or a civil tongue. She died indigent, at the age of 42. She became in death a favorite moral exemplum of what happens to spoiled beauties. Her daughter, Ann Carroll De Brow, was trying out for the Follies when Ziegfeld died in 1932. David S. Shields/ALS