Juliet Prowse

Juliet Prowse was born in India to South African parents. She studied to be a dancer from the age of 4. She was accepted for the Festival Ballet of Johannesburg at 14. This led her to the Royal Academy of Dance, but at just under six feet in height, she was considered too tall to enter the world of ballet. She signed as a chorus dancer with the London Palladium and then pursued a career as a dancer in European nightclubs.

While dancing in Paris, Juliet was spotted by Hollywood choreographer Hermes Pan and signed to a role in the movie “Can-Can” (1960). While rehearsing for the movie, Soviet Premier 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 were filled with her romance with star Frank Sinatra. That same year she also appeared with Elvis Presley in “G.I. Blues” (1960) and again the tabloids followed her.

Juliet appeared in more films the next year, but as her celebrity status waned, so did her movie career. Her engagement to Sinatra in 1962 fueled her nightclub act, but did nothing for her movie career. In 1965, Juliet moved to Television with the Series "Mona McCluskey" playing a nutty Hollywood starlet, but the show soon ended. Her big screen career ended with “Run for Your Wife” (1966). and she appeared thereafter on the stage and on the nightclub circuit. Some of her stage shows included "Sweet Charity," "Kismet," "Irma La Douce," "Mame," and "The Pajama Game."

Juliet headlined in Las Vegas during the late ‘60s and through the ‘70s. It was during this time period that she was under contract to Howard Hughes’ Summa Corporation for her Las Vegas appearances at his hotels. StayTunedtv’s creator, John A Kuri, filmed Juliet Prowse for his television entertainment special “Vegas, Vegas, Vegas” in 1977.

Juliet was a striking beauty, famed for her long, slender, and well-formed legs. In 1989 while rehearsing for her appearance on “Circus of the Stars” TV special, she was mauled by an 80-pound Leopard. Juliet was not one to be stopped, and she managed to recover and do her part in the show. However, when making a promotional appearance for the same show, on the “Tonight Show,” the same Leopard once again attacked her.

Through the mid ‘80s and until the mid ‘90s Juliet hosted the PBS series “Championship Ballroom Dance Competition.”

In 1994, Miss Prowse was diagnosed with cancer. She passed away on September 14, 1996.