The Washington times., 1914-04-13
BILLIE BURKE WEDS
FL0RENz z|EGFELD
Actress Announces She Will
Continue to Appear as
Usual.

| NEW YORK, April 1S.-Miss Ellie
Burke. the actress. today announced
| her marriage to F7orenz Ziegfeld. jr..
! former husband of Anna Held. The
| ceremony was performed in Hoboken
Saturday. and Ziegfeld went with his
bride TO her home at Hastings-on-t the
Hudson, where they greeted their
| friends today
Miss Burke appeared as usual Satur-
day evening In her play, Jerry" In
which she Is starring at the Lyceum
Theater, and said today that she would
continue to appear as usual. She gave
her age as twenty-eight, which makes
| husband.
Ziegfeld married Anna Held in Paris
| in 1901. and was her manager until she
divorced him several years ago. Re
Gently however. ZiegfeId again became
manager of Miss Held, and at present
is her manager. directing her vaudeville
appearances.
Miss Burke first came into prominence
in London in 1907. and soon afterward
appeared as leading lady with John
Drew In my Wife" Since then she
has been a Frohman star. Ziegfeld. ia
nous for his annual production of The
Follies." is one of the best known fig
ures on Broadway.
Miss Billie Burke is Washington
girl. She was born here and until II
few years ago, when she took up her
abode at Hastings-os-the-Hu Hudson called
Washington her home. She was born
while her mother. Blanche Burke, d
circus performer. was in Washington
to participate in travelling show.
In her childhood Billie Burke toured
the country with her father, living the
life Of the circus performers, with
whom she was a great fayorite. When
she was about nine the clown, the mule.
and the girl went to Europe, where the
father played-it is to be presumed
before crowned heads, ard the daugh-
ter was sent to school in France.
There she became an accomplished lin
Germany. Russia. and France, giving
recitals In the tongue of whatever
country she happened to be visiting.
Then she went to London to study
singing. and made her debut In that
city at the Pavilion. Her first ap-
pearance on the "legit' stage was in
the pantomime, Beauty and the
Eeast," at Glasgow.
After this engagement she returned to
the London music halls. where she at
tracted the attention of George Ed
wardes. He gave her a role in THE
School Girl" in which she sang a song,
My Little Canoe which scored q
great hit. Indeed, it was in My Little
Canoe" that Billie Burke rode to fame,
and in little while every bachelor
and maybe some men who weren't-in
London was in love with Billie She
was given a part in Louis n. Parkers
Mr.. George and. although the play
was a dismal failure, IL bv no means
damaged the girl actress reputation.
Then came a day when she was sum-
moned into the presence of Charles
Frohman. His very first words were to
advise her to abandon the notion that
she could sing. This made BI lies face
flush the color OF her hair, but Mr..
Frohman added that she had a great
future as an actress IL she would de-
vote her entire time and energy to that
art, and the upshot was that she was
given an engagement In New York. Her
first appearance in her native land was
as Beatrice Dupre, the leading role in
My Wife," which she played with John
Drew.