When 23-year-old South African dancer Juliet Prowse landed in Hollywood in 1959, she never imaged that within one year she would be dating both Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley!

Sinatra, whose smooth voice had who earned him the nickname “Swoonatra”, had just released Come Dance with Me! which became the Grammy’s Album of the Year and earned Sinatra the Best Male Vocal Performance in 1959.

Elvis had just returned from the army in West Germany, and he meteoric rise to fame from his rock-n-roll sound and gyrating hips on the Milton Berle Show in 1956, would continue. His first movie out of the army was G.I. Blues with Juliet as the lead where result in a kiss on set which went well beyond the scene.

Sinatra had also kissed Juliet in a scene of Can-Can, Juliet’s first movie in Hollywood, but this was not in the script and a surprise to everyone. Thus, ensued a love triangle that the media relished in. Though Sinatra was 21 years older than Juliet, she found his power and charisma incredible, while with Elvis she had a more fun loving, giddy excitement as young adults in their 20s.

In the end, it was Sinatra who captured Juliet’s heart during that phase, though Elvis remained a friend and Juliet would rush to see him whenever he was in Hollywood. Eighteen months later Sinatra proposed, but it was only a six week engagement as Sinatra didn’t want Juliet to work and she’d only just tasted success as a rising star.