Juliet Prowse

Known for ActingBorn 1936-09-25Died 1996-09-14Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India

Juliet Anne Prowse was a dancer, whose four-decade career included stage, television and film. She was raised in South Africa, where her family emigrated after World War II. Known for her attractive legs, she was described after her death as having "... arguably the best legs since Betty Grable." 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 role of Claudine in the Walter Lang film Can-Can. It was during the filming of Can-Can in 1959 that she captured the international spotlight. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev visited the set of the film and after Prowse performed a rather saucy can-can for the Russian leader, he proclaimed her dance immoral. The publicity brought Prowse considerable attention in the United States. Prowse met Frank Sinatra on the set of Can-Can. Time magazine did not rate the movie highly, but declared Prowse the best thing in it: "In fact, the only thing really worth seeing is Juliet Prowse, a young South African hoofer who puts some twinkle in the stub-toed choreography. And the only thing really worth hearing is the crack that Frank flips back at Juliet when she whips a redoubtable hip in his direction. "Don't point", he gasps. "It's rude." She would go on to appear with Sinatra and other notable guests such as Ella Fitzgerald, Peter Lawford, Hermione Gingold, the Hi-Lo's, Red Norvo, Nelson Riddle and his orchestra on the 1959 Frank Sinatra Show. She at times would sing in the chorus with other guests or Sinatra would sing to her. Sinatra invited Prowse to join him in Las Vegas, even though she was living with the actor Nico Minardos at the time. Sinatra and Prowse announced their engagement in 1962. Soon afterwards they broke up, reportedly because Prowse wanted to concentrate on her career. Prowse later admitted, "I was as much flattered as I was in love. He (Sinatra) was a complex person, and after a few drinks he could be very difficult." Prowse co-starred alongside Elvis Presley in G.I. Blues. During shooting of the film, they had a short and intense fling. "Elvis and I had an affair. ... We had a sexual attraction like two healthy young people, but he was already a victim of his fans. We always met in his room and never went out." Prowse also made a brief cameo appearance in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer documentary film, Elvis: That's the Way. She starred with Denny Scott Miller on her own NBC sitcom in the 1965-1966 season: Mona McCluskey, which was produced by George Burns. The series was based on the idea that the couple, Mike and Mona McCluskey, would live on his military salary, rather than her lucrative earnings as an actress. In the late 1980s, she was mauled by an 80-pound leopard – twice. Once, while filming a scene for Circus of the Stars in 1987 and later that same year rehearsing a promotional stunt on The Tonight Show, when the same leopard attacked her. The later attack was more serious, requiring upwards of twenty stitches to reattach her ear.Read more

Movies & web series

Elvis: The King of Rock 'n' Roll

The Big Show

Tom Jones | Duets by Invitation Only

Night of 100 Stars II

Elvis: That's the Way It Is

Happy Birthday, Las Vegas

The Muppet Show

The Carol Burnett Show

Murder, She Wrote

Password

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Dingaka

Musical Comedy Tonight II

That's Dancing!

Dinah!

Second Chance

The Name of the Game

Mona McCluskey

The Danny Kaye Show

The Right Approach

Vicki!

The Ed Sullivan Show

Fantasy Island

Can-Can

The Danny Thomas Hour

G.I. Blues

The Love Boat

Who Killed Teddy Bear?

Run for Your Wife

Burke's Law

The Second Time Around

Adventures in Paradise

The Steve Allen Show

Elvis: #1 Hit Performances

The Mike Douglas Show

Spree

The Fiercest Heart

Glitter

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts

The Hollywood Palace

Elvis Through the Years

Ladies Night - Most Famous Hits

Bob Hope's World of Comedy

The Frank Sinatra Timex Show - To the Ladies

The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: An Afternoon with Frank Sinatra