Patricia Ziegfeld Stephenson

Patricia Ziegfeld Stephenson (October 23, 1916 – April 11, 2008) was an American author.

Spouse:

William Robert Stephenson (m.1939–2007; his death)

Children:

William Robert Stephenson Jr.
Cecilia Duncan
Florenz Crossley
Susan Plemons

Parents:

Florenz Ziegfeld
Billie Burke

Biography

Patricia Ziegfeld was born in New York City in 1916 to Florenz Ziegfeld and Billie Burke. She grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson in Westchester County, New York. She also lived at the family's home in Palm Beach, Florida.

Her father died in 1932 and she moved to California with her mother. She attended UCLA then did some acting and writing for newspapers.

She married William Robert Stephenson, Sr. (1912-2007) on June 11, 1939. She met Stephenson while he was working as a dance instructor at the Beverly Hills Hotel. He designed homes including the General Electric show home for Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan. They had four children: Cecilia Duncan Stephenson, Florenz Crossley Stephenson, Susan Plemons Stephenson, and William Robert Stephenson, Jr.

In 1963 she published an autobiography, The Ziegfeld's Girl: Confessions of an Abnormally Happy Childhood. She also wrote the introduction for a biography of her father, The Ziegfeld Touch: The Life and Times of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr, which was written by her cousins, Richard and Paulette Ziegfeld.

She died of congestive heart failure at her home in Los Angeles at the age of 91. She had nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, at the time of her death.