Anna Held

{{Infobox person

| name = Anna Held

| image = Anna Held JWS19265.jpg

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_name = Helene Anna Held

| birth_date = {{birth date|1872|03|19|df=y}}

| birth_place = Warsaw, Congress Poland

| death_date = {{death date and age|1918|08|12|1872|03|19|df=y}}

| death_place = New York City, U.S.

| resting_place = Gate of Heaven Cemetery

| occupation = {{hlist|Actress|singer}}

| years_active =

| spouse = {{marriage|Maximo Carrera|1894|1908|end=divorced}}

| partner = Florenz Ziegfeld (1897–1913)

| children = 1

}}

Helene Anna Held (19 March 1872 – 12 August 1918) was a Polish-born French stage performer of Jewish origin on Broadway. While appearing in London, she was spotted by impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, who brought her to America as his common-law wife. From 1896 through 1910, she was one of Broadway's most celebrated leading ladies, presented in a succession of musicals as a charming, coquettish Parisian singer and comedienne, with an hourglass figure and an off-stage reputation for exotic behavior, such as bathing in 40 gallons of milk a day to maintain her complexion. Detractors implied that her fame owed more to Ziegfeld's promotional flair than to any intrinsic talent, but her audience allure was undeniable for over a decade, with several of her shows setting house attendance records for their time. Her uninhibited style also inspired the long-running series of popular revues, the Ziegfeld Follies.

Early life

File:Anna Held Scala Choubrac Alfred.jpg (1890).]]

Born in Warsaw, Held was named Helene Anna Held, daughter of a German Jewish glove maker, Shimmle (aka Maurice) Held, and his French-Jewish wife, Yvonne Pierre.{{cite book|last=Fields|first=Armond|title=Women Vaudeville Stars: Eighty Biographical Profiles|year=2006|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-786-42583-9|page=22}}

Sources list a variety of birth years, ranging from 1865 to 1873, but 1872 has been accepted in general. In 1881, anti-Semitic pogroms forced the family to flee to Paris. When her father's glove manufacturing business failed, he found work as a janitor, while her mother operated a kosher restaurant. Held began working in the garment industry, then found work as a singer in Jewish theatres in Paris and, later, after her father's death, London, where her roles included the title role in a production by Jacob Adler of Abraham Goldfaden's Shulamith; she was also in Goldfaden's ill-fated Paris troupe, whose cashier stole their money before they ever played publicly.{{cite web|last1=Pollak|first1=Oliver B.|title=Anna Held|url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/held-anna|website=Jewish Women's Archive|access-date=14 January 2018}}

As a young woman in France, Held converted to Roman Catholicism.{{cite book|editor1=James, Edward T. |editor2=Wilson James, Janet|editor3=Boyer, Paul S.|title=Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary, Volume 1|volume=1|year=1971|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-62734-5|page=178}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sandburg.org/SandburgsHometown/SandburgsHometown_AnnaHeld.html|title=Anna Held & John Drew- Sandburg's Hometown – by Barbara Schock – 22 June 2015|website=Sandburg.org|access-date=15 January 2018}}

Career

=Early years=

Image:Anna Held, by Léopold-Émile Reutlinger, ca. 1908.jpg}}]]

File:Anna Held and daughter LCCN2014688150 (cropped).jpg

Her vivacious and animated personality proved popular and her career as a stage performer gained momentum as she became known for her risqué songs, flirtatious nature and willingness to show her legs on stage. In 1894, she married the much-older Uruguayan playboy Maximo Carrera, with whom she had a daughter, Lianne (1895–1988), who was also an actress and producer, sometimes billed as Anna Held Jr.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19330910&id=548cAAAAIBAJ&pg=3836,5140995|title=Anna Held's Daughter, Done With Stages, Lives Life Of Farmer and Innkeeper|date=10 September 1933|work=The Pittsburgh Press|page=6|access-date=11 October 2014}}

Touring through Europe, Held was appearing in London in 1896, when she met Florenz Ziegfeld, who asked her to return to New York City with him.{{Cite book|last=Lankevich|first=George J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fSv3JxmjLo4C&q=billie+dove&pg=PA67|title=Postcards from Times Square|date=2001|publisher=Square One Publishers, Inc.|isbn=978-0-7570-0100-0|language=en}} He set about creating a wave of public interest in her, feeding stories to the American press, such as her having had ribs surgically removed. By the time Held and Ziegfeld arrived in New York, she was already the subject of intense public speculation.{{cite book|last1=Cullen|first1=Frank|last2=Hackman|first2=Florence|last3=McNeilly|first3=Donald|title=Vaudeville Old & New: An Encyclopedia Of Variety Performances In America, Volume 1|year=2004|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-93853-2|page=501}} When she finally performed in a revival of A Parlor Match, the critics were dismissive, but the public approved.{{cite news|title=Can She Sing, Too?|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1896-09-20/ed-1/seq-28/|access-date=14 January 2018|work=New-York Tribune|date=20 September 1896|pages=4, col. 3}}

=Broadway success=

{{multiple image|direction= vertical |align= right |width= 170 |image1= AnnaHeld.jpg |caption1= Held, in a publicity photo |image2= Anna Held, par Aimé Dupont (cropped).jpg| caption2 = Anna Held, by Aimé Dupont | caption_align = center}}

David Monod of Wilfrid Laurier University has suggested that Held succeeded more on image than talent, the illusion she presented to post-Victorian era audiences who were beginning to explore new social freedoms.{{cite journal|last1=Monod|first1=David|title=The Eyes of Anna Held: Sex and Sight in the Progressive Era|journal=The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era|date=2011|volume=10|issue=3|pages=289–327|doi=10.1017/S1537781411000065|jstor=23045138|s2cid=162680202}}{{rp|296–297}} From 1896, Held enjoyed several successes on Broadway, including The Little Duchess (1901) and A Parisian Model (1906–1907). These, apart from bolstering Ziegfeld's fortune, made her a millionaire in her own right. Ziegfeld's talent for creating publicity stunts ensured that Held's name remained well known.

Held influenced the format for what would eventually become the famous Ziegfeld Follies in 1907, and she helped Ziegfeld establish the most lucrative phase of his career. Held could not perform in the first Follies when she become pregnant by Ziegfeld in late 1908. Held's daughter Lianne later claimed in her unpublished memoirs that Ziegfeld forced Held to have an abortion because he did not want her pregnancy interfering with Miss Innocence, a show in which she would star in 1908–09.{{cite book|last=Golden|first=Eve|author-link=Eve Golden|title=Anna Held and the Birth of Ziegfeld's Broadway|year=2013|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-813-14653-9|pages=121–22}} The claim was repeated in an autobiography by Held entitled Anna Held and Flo Ziegfeld, however, Richard and Paulette Ziegfeld, (authors of The Ziegfeld Touch) concluded that Held never wrote her memoirs, and Lianne was the real author of the autobiography.{{cite book |last=Hanson|first=Nils|title=Lillian Lorraine: The Life and Times of a Ziegfeld Diva|year=2011| publisher=McFarland| isbn=978-0-786-48935-0}}{{rp|23}} Eve Golden, Held's biographer, wrote that Lianne's abortion claim was likely a lie designed to demonize Ziegfeld, whom Lianne loathed.

In 1909, Ziegfeld began an affair with the actress Lillian Lorraine; Held remained hopeful that his fascination would pass, and he would return to her, but instead he turned his attentions to another actress, Billie Burke, whom he married in 1914.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0321.html |title=Florenz Ziegfeld Dies in Hollywood After Long Illness|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=16 September 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531140434/http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0321.html|archive-date=31 May 2016}}

=Film=

New York entertainment entrepreneur Oliver Morosco cast Held in the lead for Madame la Presidente in 1916. According to an interview she gave to Hector Ames for Motion Picture Classic, she was paid $25,000 for her performance.{{cite journal|last=Ames|first=Hector|title=A "Close Up" of Anna Held|journal=Motion Picture Classic|date=1916|volume=2|pages=1–6 & 57–58|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cQ9KAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Anna%20Held%22&pg=PT142|access-date=14 January 2018}}

Later years and death

After Miss Innocence, Held left Broadway. She spent the years of World War I working in vaudeville and touring France, performing for French soldiers and raising money for the war effort. She was considered a war heroine for her contributions, and was highly regarded for the courage she displayed in traveling to the front lines, to be where she could do the most good.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0007000/|title=Madame la Presidente |website=IMDb |access-date=12 January 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114142828/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0007000/|archive-date=14 January 2018}}

{{multiple image |direction = vertical |align = left |width = 170 |image1 = Anna Held's grave in Gate of Heaven Cemetery.jpg |caption1 = Held's grave in Gate of Heaven Cemetery |image2 = Anna Held Footstone 2007.JPG |caption2 = Held's footstone | caption_align = center}}

The year 1917 was one of constant touring for Held; she toured the United States in a production of Follow Me until ill health caused her to close the show in January 1918. She then checked into the Hotel Savoy in New York City where her health continued to decline.{{rp|124}} Held had been battling multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells, for a year. News coverage began reporting that it had been caused by her practice of excessive lacing of her corsets to give her a tiny waist.{{cite news|title=Anna Held a Victim of "Tight Lacing?"|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045389/1918-05-26/ed-1/seq-47|access-date=15 January 2018|work=Richmond Times-Dspatch|date=26 May 1918|page=Image 47}}

According to the Washington Times, Held had been in and out of consciousness for about a week. On 12 August 1918, her doctor pronounced her dead, and the media was alerted. Approximately two hours later, Held revived, and the media notified she was still alive, only to have Held finally die shortly thereafter.{{cite news|title=Science Explains Anna Held's Awakening From Two Hours of Death|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1918-09-01/ed-1/seq-19/#date1=1918&index=1&rows=20&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&words=Anna+Held&proxdistance=5&date2=1918&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=Anna+Held&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1|access-date=1 January 2018|work=The Washington Times|date=1 September 1918|page=Image 19}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19180816&id=DZ5XAAAAIBAJ&pg=5993,183762|title=Last Curtain For Anna Held|date=16 August 1918|work=The Spokesman-Review|page=8|access-date=11 October 2014}}

Held's funeral was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan on 14 August.{{rp|23}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=22&dat=19180815&id=STcBAAAAIBAJ&pg=1355,868126|title=Miss Held's Funeral|date=15 August 1918|work=The Toronto World|page=10|access-date=11 October 2014}} Florenz Ziegfeld did not attend; he had a phobia about death and never attended funerals. Held is interred at Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven in Hawthorne, New York.{{rp|23}}{{clear}}

Legacy

Image:Rainer Ziegfeld.jpg in her Academy Award portrayal of Held in The Great Ziegfeld (1936)}}]]

The MGM film The Great Ziegfeld (1936) tells a sanitized version of the Ziegfeld-Held relationship. Luise Rainer won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Held. Ziegfeld and Burke were played by William Powell and Myrna Loy.{{cite web|last1=Berardinelli|first1=James|title=Reelviews Movie Reviews|url=http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/great-ziegfeld-the|website=Reelviews Movie Reviews|access-date=14 January 2018}}
In 1978, Columbia Pictures released a made-for-television film on NBC, Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women. Held was portrayed by Barbara Parkins.{{cite news|title=Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/252408633/?terms=Ziegfeld:+The+Man+&+His+Women|access-date=14 January 2018|work=The Star Press{{Subscription required|via=Newspapers.com}}|date=21 May 1978|page=26}}
The American poet Carl Sandburg wrote a memorial poem for Anna Held, An Electric Sign goes Dark, in the collection Smoke and Steel.{{cite web|last=Schock|first=Barbara|title=Anna Held & John Drew- Sandburg's Hometown|date=22 June 2015|url=https://www.sandburg.org/SandburgsHometown/SandburgsHometown_AnnaHeld.html|website=Sandburg.org|access-date=14 January 2018}}
In 1976, Held's daughter Lianne Carrera opened a museum of her mother's personal and stage items in San Jacinto, California.{{Citation needed |date=December 2021}}

Stage

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" \|+ Broadway credits of Anna Held ! scope="col"\|Year ! scope="col"\|Title ! scope="col"\|Role ! scope="col"\|Theatre ! scope="col" class="unsortable" \| Produced by ! scope="col" class="unsortable" \|{{abbr\|Ref(s)\|Reference(s)}}
scope="row"\|1896 \|A Parlor Match \|align="center"\| — \|Herald Square Theatre \|Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. \|align="center"\|{{cite web\|title=A Parlor Match\|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/a-parlor-match-12894\|publisher=The Broadway League\|access-date=14 January 2018}}
scope="row"\|1897 \|The French Maid \|Suzette \|Herald Square Theatre \|Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. and Charles E. Evans \|align="center"\|{{cite web\|title=The French Maid\|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-french-maid-13401\|publisher=The Broadway League\|access-date=14 January 2018}}
scope="row"\|1897 \|La poupée \|Alesia \|Olympia Theatre \|Oscar Hammerstein I \|align="center"\|{{cite web\|title=La poupée\|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/la-poupe-13623\|publisher=The Broadway League\|access-date=14 January 2018}}
scope="row"\|1899–1900 \|Papa's Wife \|Anna \|Manhattan Theatre \|Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. \|align="center"\|{{cite web\|title=Papa's Wife\|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/papas-wife-5271\|publisher=The Broadway League\|access-date=14 January 2018}}
scope="row"\|1901–02 \|The Little Duchess \|The Little Duchess \|Casino Theatre Grand Opera House \|Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. \|align="center"\|{{cite web\|title=The Little Duchess\|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-little-duchess-5506\|publisher=The Broadway League\|access-date=14 January 2018}}
scope="row"\|1903–04 \|Mam'selle Napoleon \|Mademoiselle Mars \|Knickerbocker Theatre \|Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. \|align="center"\|{{cite web\|title=Mam'selle Napoleon\|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/mamselle-napoleon-5793\|publisher=The Broadway League\|access-date=14 January 2018}}
scope="row"\|1904–05 \|Higgledy-Piggledy \|Mimi de Chartreuse \|Weber's Music Hall \|Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. and Joseph M. Weber \|align="center"\| {{cite web\|title=Higgledy-Piggledy\|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/higgledy-piggledy-5939\|publisher=The Broadway League\|access-date=14 January 2018}}
scope="row"\|1907–08 \|A Parisian Model \|Anna \|Broadway Theatre \|Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. and Frank McKee \|align="center"\|{{cite web\|title=A Parisian Model\|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/a-parisian-model-6288\|publisher=The Broadway League\|access-date=14 January 2018}}
scope="row"\|1908–09 \|Miss Innocence \|Anna, Miss Innocence \|New York Theatre \|Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. \|align="center"\| {{cite web\|title=Miss Innocence\|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/miss-innocence-6613\|publisher=The Broadway League\|access-date=14 January 2018}}
scope="row"\|1913–14 \|Anna Held's All Star Variete Jubilee \|Self \|Casino Theatre \|John Cort \|align="center"\| {{cite web\|title=Anna Held's All Star Variete Jubilee\|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/anna-helds-all-star-variete-jubilee-7961\|publisher=The Broadway League\|access-date=14 January 2018}}
scope="row"\|1916–17 \|Follow Me \|Claire LaTour \|Casino Theatre \|Lee Shubert and Jacob J. Shubert \|align="center"\|{{cite web\|title=Follow Me\|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/follow-me-8506\|publisher=The Broadway League\|access-date=14 January 2018}}

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|+ Broadway credits of Anna Held

! scope="col"|Year

! scope="col"|Title

! scope="col"|Role

! scope="col"|Theatre

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Produced by

! scope="col" class="unsortable" |{{abbr|Ref(s)|Reference(s)}}

scope="row"|1896

|A Parlor Match

|align="center"| —

|Herald Square Theatre

|Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.

|align="center"|{{cite web|title=A Parlor Match|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/a-parlor-match-12894|publisher=The Broadway League|access-date=14 January 2018}}

scope="row"|1897

|The French Maid

|Suzette

|Herald Square Theatre

|Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. and Charles E. Evans

|align="center"|{{cite web|title=The French Maid|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-french-maid-13401|publisher=The Broadway League|access-date=14 January 2018}}

scope="row"|1897

|La poupée

|Alesia

|Olympia Theatre

|Oscar Hammerstein I

|align="center"|{{cite web|title=La poupée|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/la-poupe-13623|publisher=The Broadway League|access-date=14 January 2018}}

scope="row"|1899–1900

|Papa's Wife

|Anna

|Manhattan Theatre

|Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.

|align="center"|{{cite web|title=Papa's Wife|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/papas-wife-5271|publisher=The Broadway League|access-date=14 January 2018}}

scope="row"|1901–02

|The Little Duchess

|The Little Duchess

|Casino Theatre
Grand Opera House

|Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.

|align="center"|{{cite web|title=The Little Duchess|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-little-duchess-5506|publisher=The Broadway League|access-date=14 January 2018}}

scope="row"|1903–04

|Mam'selle Napoleon

|Mademoiselle Mars

|Knickerbocker Theatre

|Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.

|align="center"|{{cite web|title=Mam'selle Napoleon|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/mamselle-napoleon-5793|publisher=The Broadway League|access-date=14 January 2018}}

scope="row"|1904–05

|Higgledy-Piggledy

|Mimi de Chartreuse

|Weber's Music Hall

|Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. and Joseph M. Weber

|align="center"| {{cite web|title=Higgledy-Piggledy|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/higgledy-piggledy-5939|publisher=The Broadway League|access-date=14 January 2018}}

scope="row"|1907–08

|A Parisian Model

|Anna

|Broadway Theatre

|Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. and Frank McKee

|align="center"|{{cite web|title=A Parisian Model|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/a-parisian-model-6288|publisher=The Broadway League|access-date=14 January 2018}}

scope="row"|1908–09

|Miss Innocence

|Anna, Miss Innocence

|New York Theatre

|Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.

|align="center"| {{cite web|title=Miss Innocence|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/miss-innocence-6613|publisher=The Broadway League|access-date=14 January 2018}}

scope="row"|1913–14

|Anna Held's All Star Variete Jubilee

|Self

|Casino Theatre

|John Cort

|align="center"| {{cite web|title=Anna Held's All Star Variete Jubilee|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/anna-helds-all-star-variete-jubilee-7961|publisher=The Broadway League|access-date=14 January 2018}}

scope="row"|1916–17

|Follow Me

|Claire LaTour

|Casino Theatre

|Lee Shubert and Jacob J. Shubert

|align="center"|{{cite web|title=Follow Me|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/follow-me-8506|publisher=The Broadway League|access-date=14 January 2018}}

Filmography

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" \| Notes
1901 \| Anna Held \| Herself \| Close-up version Short subject{{cite web\|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=30823\|title=Anna Held\|website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films\|publisher=American Film Institute\|access-date=31 December 2016\|url-status=live\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101003225/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=30823\|archive-date=1 January 2017}}
1901 \| Anna Held \| Herself \| Full-length version Short subject{{cite web\|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=31081\|title=Anna Held profile\|website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films\|publisher=American Film Institute\|access-date=31 December 2016\|url-status=live\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101002659/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=31081\|archive-date=1 January 2017}}
1910 \| The Comet \| \| Short subject{{cite web\|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/AbbrView.aspx?s=&Movie=41164\|title=The Comet\|website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films\|publisher=American Film Institute\|access-date=31 December 2016\|url-status=live\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101002725/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/AbbrView.aspx?s=&Movie=41164\|archive-date=1 January 2017}}
1913 \| Elevating an Elephant \| Herself \| Short subject
1913 \| Popular Players Off the Stage \| Herself \| Short subject
1916 \| Madame la Presidente \| Mademoiselle Gobette \| {{cite web\|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/AbbrView.aspx?s=&Movie=17167\|title=Madame La Presidente\|website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films\|publisher=American Film Institute\|access-date=31 December 2016\|url-status=live\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422230838/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/AbbrView.aspx?s=&Movie=17167\|archive-date=22 April 2016}}

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

1901

| Anna Held

| Herself

| Close-up version
Short subject{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=30823|title=Anna Held|website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films|publisher=American Film Institute|access-date=31 December 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101003225/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=30823|archive-date=1 January 2017}}

1901

| Anna Held

| Herself

| Full-length version
Short subject{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=31081|title=Anna Held profile|website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films|publisher=American Film Institute|access-date=31 December 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101002659/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=31081|archive-date=1 January 2017}}

1910

| The Comet

| Short subject{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/AbbrView.aspx?s=&Movie=41164|title=The Comet|website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films|publisher=American Film Institute|access-date=31 December 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101002725/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/AbbrView.aspx?s=&Movie=41164|archive-date=1 January 2017}}

1913

| Elevating an Elephant

| Herself

| Short subject

1913

| Popular Players Off the Stage

| Herself

| Short subject

1916

| Madame la Presidente

| Mademoiselle Gobette

| {{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/AbbrView.aspx?s=&Movie=17167|title=Madame La Presidente|website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films|publisher=American Film Institute|access-date=31 December 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422230838/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/AbbrView.aspx?s=&Movie=17167|archive-date=22 April 2016}}

References

External links

{{IBDB name}}
{{IMDb name|id=0374894}}
[https://www.nytimes.com/1918/08/13/archives/anna-held-dies-after-brave-fight-french-actress-succumbs-to.html New York Times] article announcing Held's death
[https://books.google.com/books?id=zeNDAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA180 Article about Held in Theatre Magazine]
[https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?utf8=%E2%9C%93&keywords=anna+held Anna Held portraits] (New York Public Library)
[http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/search/collection/sayre/searchterm/anna%20held/field/all/mode/all/conn/and/cosuppress/ Portrait gallery] (University of Washington, Sayre collection)
[https://web.archive.org/web/20160809065334/http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/video/actress-anna-held-holding-glass-of-champagne-stock-video-footage/2001-112 Anna's 1901 film; "Champagne"](Wayback Machine)
Anna Held [http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7029/6478382243_760d4ba034.jpg driving] her Maxwell motorcar