Dancer Juliet Prowse through eyes of her niece

She grew up with the same name as an aunt who was one of the world’s most famous dancers and now Capetonian Juliet E Prowse has written a book about the mesmerising star of stage and screen who was engaged to Frank Sinatra and had a fling with Elvis Presley.

Marketing communications professional Prowse, 57, wrote Juliet Prowse: Born to Dance The Extraordinary Life Story of My Aunt after coming across a small red suitcase in her parent’s attic holding cuttings about her dazzling aunt.

Her namesake, who started to dance when she was four years old and living in SA, went on to captivate audiences in London, Broadway and Las Vegas and to marry The Bold and the Beautiful’s John McCook with whom she had a son.

After breaking her 20th Century Fox contract, Prowse, who was known for her exceptionally long legs, created her own company at a time when it was uncommon for women to break the glass ceiling, and became one of the highest-paid dancers of the 1970s. She died in 1996, aged 59.

Her niece, first-time author Juliet E Prowse who was referred to as Little Juliet by her family, says she wrote the book after reading hundreds of letters between her aunt and a boyfriend, reading reams of articles and interviewing people in the US who had worked with her.

Weekender asked her:

Q: How exactly are you related to the world-famous dancer Juliet Prowse?

A: She was my only aunt, my dad’s sister who I was named after. 

Q: What was it like to grow up with her as your namesake?

A: Juliet was very family oriented and flew back to SA regularly for holidays. We have many special memories with her as she was so enthusiastic about anything.

With no YouTube, we didn’t see much footage of Juliet growing up. The only thing we saw were two episodes from Mona McCluskey, a 1960s TV series which Juliet brought back on film.

As I studied at the University of Nebraska, I spent time with Juliet in Los Angeles.

Though she knew famous people, her tribe was dancers, so I met the French dancer, Marine Jahan, who danced for Jennifer Beals in Flashdance and Tom Selleck’s wife who was a ballet dancer. 

Q: Did you dream of following in her footsteps?

A: When I was seven, I went to ballet class and while I tried to dance, what became evident over time was that I just wasn’t supple enough and the teacher said I had coat-hanger shoulders.

I inherited my aunt’s athleticism and became a Springbok runner, but was never as graceful as her. 

Q: She was a household name in her day and so what was it like sharing that famous name?

A: Growing up in the height of Juliet’s fame meant that people often made the connection.

They would say, “Isn’t there a famous actress/dancer by that name?” I was a bit shy at acknowledging my association, but eventually elaborated with pride. People loved the connection.

Q; What led you to write this book?

A: When my parents moved to a retirement home, I discovered a little red suitcase in their attic, filled to the brim with articles about my famous aunt, Juliet.

Initially I was curious about her life as a teenager in 1950s London, but I realised that I wanted to tell her story particularly for the next generation. Wikipedia can’t give you a sense of what a character she was.

Q: Are South Africans aware of your aunt’s connection to SA, do you think?

A: The general population in their 70s and 80s know who my aunt is as she was in the newspapers a lot when they were growing up.

Dancers and entertainers are also aware, but today’s younger generation are largely oblivious as to who she is.

Q: How did you go about compiling all the information you needed to write it and how long did the project take?

A: I started compiling quotes from articles early in 2020, but could only fly to the US in 2022.

I had written about 65% of the book when I discovered the box of 640 letters which her boyfriend kept. I also interviewed people who worked with Juliet, so I largely rewrote the book.

Book writing finished towards the end of 2023 and 2024 involved contacting publishers, editing and book production.

Q: Did you watch a lot of footage of her while writing your book?

A: Interestingly, I didn’t watch a lot of footage for the writing process, but I have tried to locate all footage of her as this project is to leave a footprint of her contribution to dance.

I had a lot of information to work with and also utilised a free online resource of digitised California newspapers.

Q: What was the most surprising or fascinating thing you learnt about your aunt while researching her life?

A: Realising how driven she was and how she created opportunities for herself.

New in Hollywood, she broke her 20th Century Fox contract, and created her own company.

She asked Frank Sinatra’s award-winning composer/team of Jimmy van Heusen and Sammy Cahn to work on her first act — just two months after her engagement to Sinatra! By the mid-1970s she was on a $1m (R19m) contract.

Q: Where was your aunt born and how much of her life was spent in SA and can you tell us about her time in this country?

A; Juliet was born in Mumbai, India and moved to SA after her father died as his family had immigrated here.

She started dancing at age four in Durban and then moved to Vereeniging.

At age 12, she went by bus to Johannesburg on her own to learn advanced dance skills.

In Johannesburg, Juliet benefited from the vision of Marjorie Sturman who had co-founded the Festival Ballet Society.

At 14, she became the youngest member of the Festival Ballet Society and performed in Johannesburg and Durban. She left school at 16 and went to London at 17.

Q: What impressed you most about her?

A: Her hard work, fierce determination and belief that if opportunities came her way, they were meant to and if they didn’t, they weren’t.

She treated everyone with kindness and was very down-to-earth. As her fame and company grew to 20 people, she gave many dancers opportunities.

They loved her and as one dancer said, “She was a real mensch.”

Q: Tell us about her romance with Elvis Presley!

Juliet and Elvis met in the movie GI Blues (1960). Juliet was dating Sinatra at the time, but as Elvis was much closer in age to Juliet, she felt more relaxed with him.

The press lapped up this love triangle, but it was just fun with Elvis as Sinatra had captured her heart.

Q: She was engaged to Frank Sinatra. How did they meet and do you know why they did not marry?

A: Juliet and Frank met in the movie Can-Can and started dating after Juliet appeared on his TV show.

Sinatra dated multiple women at the same time and Juliet started dating another dancer 18 months later.

It was in this environment that Sinatra proposed to Juliet. Frank wanted Juliet not to work but her career had just taken off.

So the engagement ended after six weeks, but their relationship lasted for another year.

Q: Is it true that she was mauled twice by the same leopard?

A: Yes, it is true! Juliet was working on Circus of the Stars, an annual CBS special in 1987, in an act called Uncaged Leopards.

Sheila, the leopard, became agitated and sank her teeth into Juliet’s neck and her claws in her bum.

Two months later, Juliet was on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Sheila’s second nibble required 35 stitches. 

Q: Is this book available in bookstores and how does it feel to be a published author?

A: My book is currently in Exclusive Books, on Takealot and Mzansi books, and possibly other book stores.

To see my book in print is remarkable. I am very proud of this achievement because I had a fear of writing early in my career and produced a book that is as true to Juliet’s story as possible. 

• Juliet Prowse: Born to Dance The Extraordinary Life Story of My Aunt By Juliet E Prowse is available on Takealot and Mzansi Books. For more information please go to www.julietprowse.com