Entertainment

See The Real Zelda Fitzgerald Before You Watch 'Z'

by Caroline Gerdes
Amazon Studios

The first season of Amazon's Z: The Beginning Of Everything hits the streaming site in full on Friday, Jan. 27. After seeing the events of her life unfold on screen, many viewers will surely be curious about the real life of Zelda Fitzgerald. Who was she before she was played by Christina Ricci? How did she become known as the first American flapper? Heck, what did she look like? Luckily, there are photos of Zelda Fitzgerald that can help answer at least some of these questions, and Z: The Beginning of Everything should take care of the rest.

While Zelda is best known as F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife and muse, the Amazon series sheds light on issues rarely discussed from the lives of this very public couple. The trailer teases that F. Scott used some of Zelda's words in his writing, something that has been debated for decades, and portrays the couple's wild, roaring, jazz-era lifestyle. The trailer also boasts the old adage "Well behaved women don't make history." Zelda seems like a woman I want to get to know better, so I went digging for some real photos of her before watching Ricci's take in Z: The Beginning Of Everything.

Zelda, Age 17

Zelda Sayre was born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1900, and this photo shows her as a teen, shortly before meeting F. Scott.

The Early Days

As Z: The Beginning of Everything shows, Zelda first met Scott in 1918 when he was stationed outside Montgomery. Here, they seem to be early into their relationship.

The famous couple was married April 3, 1920 in New York, and this photo shows them just a year later in September 1921, when Zelda was pregnant with their daughter.

Zelda, The Flapper

This photo was published alongside a piece Zelda wrote for Metropolitan Magazine in 1922 called "Eulogy of a Flapper."

The Fitzgerald Family

Frances Scott "Scottie" Fitzgerald was born on Oct. 26, 1921. Though the first season of Z: The Beginning of Everything won't get as far as 1926 when this photo was taken, it's a preview of what could come in future seasons.