Born September 25, 1936, in Bombay, India; died of pancreatic cancer, September 14, 1996, in Los Angeles, CA. Actress and dancer. Though her film career never hit its expected heights, Prowse was an instant media sensation when shecame to the United States in 1959. The former South African ballet dancer was on the set of her first movie Can-Can (with Frank Sinatra and Shirley Maclaine) when Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev paid a visit as part of his United States tour. In newspapers around the world the next day, Khruschev's commentsdenouncing the movie as "immoral" ran next to Prowse's picture. But althoughher romances with Sinatra and Elvis Presley kept her in the tabloids, it washer often brilliant dancing and buoyant personality that kept her working onstage, screen, and television. After the release of Can-Can in 1960, she appeared in G.I. Blues with Presley and in other films. Discovered by famed choreographer Hermes Pan, Prowse arrived in Hollywood after the era of big-time musicals and made most of her living on the stage and on television specials.She appeared countless times in Mame, and in 1966 she won the British equivalent of the Antoinette Perry Award for her performance in Sweet Charity. She appeared on Bob Hope specials, the Tonight Show, and other television varietyprograms throughout her career. Most who worked with her remember her good humor and positive attitude, even after she was mauled twice by the same leopard in 1987 on Circus of the Stars and the Tonight Show. Even after being diagnosed with cancer, she continued to teach Yoga.
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