Immigrant of the Day: Juliet Prowse

Juliet Prowse (1936–1996) was a dancer and actress who was born in Bombay, India, to South African parents. Asked as a famous adult her opinion of the apartheid government of South Africa, where her parents still lived, Prowse explained that she loved her parents but disagreed on this topic.

Prowse began studying dance at the age of four. In her early twenties she was dancing at a club in Paris when she was spotted by a talent agent and eventually signed to play the part of Claudine in the 1960 Walter Lang film “Can-Can” (1960).  While rehearsing for the movie, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was invited to watch the then unknown Prowse and others rehearsing their steps. The next day, he denounced the dance as immoral and it was Prowse’s photo that accompanied the news across newspapers worldwide. An instant celebrity, Juliet shot to stardom with her acting and dancing and the tabloids filled with her romance with star Frank Sinatra. She had met Sinatra on the set of Can-Can and for a time the two were engaged, but they split badly. It was around this time that Juliet received enormous publicity for her connection with Sinatra, as well as for having Hollywood’s most beautiful legs.

Juliet Prowse reached the height of her popularity in the 1960s, appearing alongside Elvis Presley in “G.I. Blues.” She was the first guest on The Muppet Show. She would later show off her dancer’s legs in a series of commercials for L’Eggs.

In 1996, Prowse died in Los Angeles of pancreatic cancer, two weeks short of her sixtieth birthday.

KJ