Anna Held

Anna Held was quite possibly one of the first transatlantic stars. Born in Warsaw, raised in Paris and performing in London, she was noted by famed impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, who took her to America. There, she became Broadway's biggest star... and Ziegfeld's common-law wife. It came with the territory.

Held was known for some rather exotic behavior... such as daily baths in 40 gallons of milk. This we had to investigate.

Bathing in milk goes back centuries. The one and only Cleopatra did so (sour donkey milk, to be exact), for it supposedly helped her complexion. (How she arrived at donkey is anyone's guess. She also used crocodile feces for the same problem, so maybe we shouldn't take her word.) Other royals through centuries, including Queen Elizabeth I, supposedly followed suit.

Now, while bathing in milk might seem ridiculous on the surface, milk contains lactic acid, which helps dissolve dead cells. So, yes, it's pretty good for your skin. We bet you didn't think that you came to JONJ today for beauty advice, yet here you are!

No, you came to JONJ today to find out if Anna Held was Jewish. Born to a Jewish family, she converted to Catholicism in her youth.

Duh! Mixing meat and milk is not kosher!