Juliet Prowse: Born to Dance
by Juliet E Prowse
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Pub Date 3 Apr 2025 | Archive Date 14 Jul 2025
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Description
Juliet Prowse was a young South African dancer who burst into the international spotlight in her first Hollywood movie, Can-Can. Considered talented and exotic, she caught the media's attention and her engagement to Frank Sinatra fuelled their fascination further. But was it true love and what did Sinatra make of Juliet's relationship with Elvis during G.I. Blues? Unhappy with 20th Century Fox, Juliet broke out of her contract, created her own company and became one of the highest paid dancers of her era on a Desert Inn $1 million contract by the mid-1970s.
While Juliet won awards for Sweet Charity in Las Vegas and London, opening on Broadway seemed elusive. Juliet continued to build her world-class modern dance company, winning Female Entertainer of the Year in Las Vegas four times in the era of Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisand and Shirley MacLaine. As a triple threat, Juliet featured on the international stage for four decades.
This story is personal. Told by Juliet's niece, it includes Juliet's words from letters written to her mother (the author's grandmother), family anecdotes and amusing insights from those who worked with Juliet. With her endless legs and playful charm, Juliet had many romances and married actor John McCook of The Bold and the Beautiful. But in her search for love and professional fulfilment, could she accomplish it all?
Advance Praise
Reviews from Barnes and Noble
☆☆☆☆☆5 out of 5 stars.
An extraordinary book by an extraordinary author
Aside from the book being a thoroughly enjoyable read I really liked how the author used extensive historical records to construct many enthralling story threads. It must have been a painstaking exercise to sift through all the letters and many publicly-available records, extracting the interesting bits and curating them into a coherent and fascinating story over several years. The book could easily have been a dry, fact-based account of her aunt's life. It could also have been overly gushy. Instead, the book strikes the perfect balance between Juliet's personal experiences with her aunt and everything else that was recorded about her aunt's life.
The book is truly a love letter from 'little' Juliet to 'big' Juliet. It celebrates her aunt's life and achievements without embellishment. But the book doesn't shy away from or justify her sometimes questionable decisions in the pursuit of greatness. On the contrary, knowing about Juliet's flaws makes her more human and relatable to the reader.
I particularly enjoyed how Juliet weaves her own life experiences into the book, doing so without making herself the subject of attention. Again, there is a nice balance, and Juliet the author never attempts to show up her aunt by shifting the spotlight onto her own achievements, of which there are many. Perhaps in time one of her own nieces or nephews will pen a companion book about their equally amazing aunt!
SwamiGillHart
☆☆☆☆☆5 out of 5 stars.
Million dollar dancer
A well-paced and beautifully written biography about one of the world's best known dancers. The author, Juliet Prowse junior, had access to over 600 letters that Juliet senior wrote to her mother over the course of three decades and give a personal insight into the life and career of this charismatic entertainer. It charts the course of her romantic life as well and covers her engagement to Frank Sinatra, her dalliances with Elvis and Warren Beatty and her marriage to John McCook. An entertaining and heartfelt book, it shows the resilience and artistry of this acclaimed dancer.
Chris Mitchell
☆☆☆☆☆5 out of 5 stars.
A Life Lived to the Full
What I thought would be read slowly over a few weeks turned into a must read as quickly as possible - Juliet’s personal account of her aunt’s life was beautifully written and a joy to read
Louise57
Available Editions
| ISBN | 9781037023422 |
| PRICE | US$21.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 264 |
