After nearly 90 years, the famed Ziegfeld Theater in midtown Manhattan is closing down as a theater and will reemerge as an event space in 2017. The Daily Beast takes a look back at some of its notable premieres and attendees.
At left, the opening day of the Ziegfeld Theater at 54th Street and Sixth Avenue, Feb. 2, 1927.
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Crowds outside the Ziegfeld for the opening of Cabaret.
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Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929-94) stands in a doorway at an invitational preview of the film The Day of the Dolphin, directed by Mike Nichols, at the Ziegfeld Theater on Dec. 17, 1973.
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David Bowie poses with Belgian actress Monique van Vooren at the premiere of Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind at the Ziegfeld Theater on Nov. 15, 1977.
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Gilda Radner and Bill Murray attend the premiere of Manhattan on April 18, 1979, at the Ziegfeld.
Liza Minnelli and actor Desi Arnaz Jr. attend the Cabaret premiere on Feb. 13, 1972, at the Ziegfeld.
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Steve Martin, right, Chevy Chase, center, and Martin Short arrive at the Ziegfeld Theater on Dec. 9, 1986, for the opening of their film Three Amigos.
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The stars of the film Steel Magnolias pose backstage at the Ziegfeld Theater Nov. 5, 1989, at the movie’s premiere. Shown from left: Dolly Parton, Sally Field, Olympia Dukakis, Shirley MacLaine, Julia Roberts, and Daryl Hannah.
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Exterior view of of the Ziegfeld Theater on Feb. 10, 2013, when The Weinstein Company hosted a screening of Escape From Planet Earth.
