Olive Thomas - Rise To Stardom

Rise To Stardom

Fisher wrote a letter of recommendation to Flo Ziegfeld resulting in Thomas being hired by the Ziegfeld Follies. However, Thomas later disputed this, claiming she walked right up and asked for the job. She subsequently performed in the much more risqué Midnight Frolic, a show staged after hours in the roof garden of the New Amsterdam Theatre. Unlike in the Follies, the women in the Midnight Frolic maintained a strict decorum on stage no matter how skimpy the costumes. The performers were clad only in balloons, allowing the virtually all male audience the opportunity to burst the balloons with their cigars. Thomas's reputation may be the reason the Pickford family later rejected her. However, the rest of society did not frown on these performers. Former stage performers who took on similar arrangements included Céleste Mogador, who became the Duchess of Chibrillon, Liane de Pougy, who became Princess Ghika, and Sarah Bernhardt, who became a legendary actress.

The Midnight Frolic was primarily a show for famous male patrons with plenty of money to bestow on the young and beautiful female performers. Before long, the attractive Thomas was the center of attention of the in-crowd associated with Condé Nast. She soon found herself being pursued by a number of very wealthy and powerful men. She received expensive gifts from her admirers, with rumors that the German Ambassador had given her a $10,000 string of pearls.