Before Charlise Theron, there was Juliet Prowse! The young South African girl that made it onto the cover of Sarie, a South African magazine while she was still only 17 and yet to perform in London. Her performances captured the audiences’ imagination, but it was her opportunities in CanCan with Frank Sinatra and G.I. Blues with Elvis Presley and high profile romances with both of them that propelled her into the global limelight.

For those who lived during the 1960s and 1970s, Juliet Prowse was a household name. But it wasn’t just her romances that created a stir. Juliet was talented and ambitious and performed in Sweet Charity in London and Las Vegas, winning awards in both cities for her portrayal of Bob Fosse’s sweet-but-lost gamin, Charity Hope Valentine. It was also Juliet’s creation of her own Las Vegas show, The Juliet Prowse Show which performed around the US and in Puerto Rico for 21 years that highlighted Juliet’s professionalism and commitment to showcasing quality dancing. The industry noticed and she won Female Entertainer of the Year in Las Vegas four times in the era of Liza Minelli, Barbra Streisand, Ann-Margret and Shirley MacLaine with a number of her productions winning the Best Production Sequence of the Year during the 1970s. Juliet gave opportunities to many dancers through her shows and as one of her dancers said: “I felt like I was working for a world-class modern dance company.

Listen to author Juliet Prowse talk about her book and aunt on Lunch with Pippa Hudson

For a snapshot of Juliet, the dancer’s story, listen to Tara Penny on Hot FM