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First and foremost she is known as a Burlesque dancer, her acting credits are only minor. Also being a centenarian is not a claim to fame in itself and shouldn't be included in the lede, unless that's what they're known for.
Diffusing per WP:DIFFUSE and/or WP:ALLINCLUDED
 
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{{Short description|American actress and dancer (born 1916)}}
{{Short description|American actress and dancer (1916–2022)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2022}}


{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Betty Rowland
| name = Betty Rowland
| image = Betty Rowland 1952.jpg
| caption = Rowland in 1952
| other_names = Ball of Fire
| other_names = Ball of Fire
| birth_name = Betty Jane Rowland
| birth_name = Betty Jane Rowland
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1916|1|23}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1916|1|23}}
| birth_place = [[Columbus, Ohio|Columbus]], [[Ohio]], U.S.
| birth_place = [[Columbus, Ohio]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|4|3|1916|1|23}}
| death_place = [[Culver City, California]], U.S.
| occupation = {{hlist|Actress|dancer}}
| occupation = {{hlist|Actress|dancer}}
| spouse = {{marriage|Owen S. Dalton|1956|1963|end = divorced}}
| years_active = 1940–2014
| spouse = [[Gus Schilling]]
| partner = [[Gus Schilling]]
}}
}}


'''Betty Jane Rowland''' (born January 23, 1916) is an American retired Burlesque dancer<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sage|first=Dusty|url=https://books.google.al/books?id=8VBKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT220&dq=betty+rowland&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjM2968tqf0AhWKSPEDHUWCAAkQ6AF6BAgDEAI|title=Burlesque In a Nutshell - Girls, Gimmicks & Gags|date=2016-06-07|publisher=BearManor Media}}</ref> and dancer, spanning her career over eight decades. She is the last living actress of Golden Age of [[Burlesque]] era.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-01-25|title=Minsky Stripper Turns 100 (the Last Living Star of Burlesque)|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/minsky-stripper-turns-100_b_9065388|access-date=2021-11-20|website=Huffington Post}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Red Haired Riot (Burlesque, & Other Burlesque Strippers) [Program 1]|url=http://archive.org/details/0734_Red_Haired_Riot_Burlesque_Other_Burlesque_Strippers_Program_1_03_10_59_00|access-date=2021-11-20}}</ref>
'''Betty Jane Rowland''' (January 23, 1916 – April 3, 2022) was an American [[burlesque]] dancer<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sage|first=Dusty|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8VBKDwAAQBAJ&dq=betty+rowland&pg=PT220|title=Burlesque In a Nutshell - Girls, Gimmicks & Gags|date=June 7, 2016|publisher=BearManor Media}}</ref> and actress, with a career spanning over eight decades. She was the last living performer of the "Golden Age of Burlesque" era.<ref>{{Cite web|date=January 25, 2016|title=Minsky Stripper Turns 100 (the Last Living Star of Burlesque)|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/minsky-stripper-turns-100_b_9065388|access-date=November 20, 2021|website=Huffington Post}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Red Haired Riot (Burlesque, & Other Burlesque Strippers) [Program 1]|url=http://archive.org/details/0734_Red_Haired_Riot_Burlesque_Other_Burlesque_Strippers_Program_1_03_10_59_00|access-date=November 20, 2021}}</ref>


== Early life ==
== Early life ==
Rowland was born on January 23, 1916, in [[Columbus, Ohio]]. She moved to [[Los Angeles]] in 1938. In 1941,<ref>{{Citation|title=Burlesque dancer Betty Rowland on stage performing before male audience, circa 1946|date=1946|url=https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/21198/zz0002qnfg/|language=en|access-date=2021-11-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Burlesque dancer Betty Rowland on stage performing before male audience, circa 1946|url=https://digital.library.ucla.edu/catalog/ark:/21198/zz0002qnfg|access-date=2021-11-20|website=digital.library.ucla.edu}}</ref> she attempted to sue [[Hollywood]] producer [[Samuel Goldwyn]] for using "Ball of Fire" as the title for a [[Howard Hawks]] film starring [[Barbara Stanwyck]] and [[Gary Cooper]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Photos of burlesque dancer Betty Rowland going to jail|url=https://www.pulpinternational.com/pulp/entry/Photos-of-burlesque-dancer-Betty-Rowland-going-to-jail.html|access-date=2021-11-20|website=www.pulpinternational.com}}</ref>
Rowland was born to Alvah and Ida Rowland on January 23, 1916, in [[Columbus, Ohio]].<ref name="Green" /> Her father was an [[accountant]] who lost his job during the [[Great Depression]]. Betty and her sisters Dian and Roz Elle all started out as dancers in vaudeville before making the transition into [[burlesque]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Betty Rowland {{!}} Burlesque Hall of Fame|url=https://www.burlesquehall.com/tag/betty-rowland/|access-date=November 20, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Burlesque dancer Betty Rowland on stage performing before male audience, circa 1946|url=https://digital.library.ucla.edu/catalog/ark:/21198/zz0002qnfg|access-date=November 20, 2021|website=digital.library.ucla.edu}}</ref>


== Career ==
== Career ==
[[File:Betty Rowland on stage.jpg|thumb|Rowland performing, {{circa}} 1946]]
Her father was an [[accountant]] who lost his job during the [[Great Depression]]. Betty and her sisters Dian and Roz Elle all started out as dancers in vaudeville before making the transition into [[burlesque]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Betty Rowland {{!}} Burlesque Hall of Fame|url=https://www.burlesquehall.com/tag/betty-rowland/|access-date=2021-11-20}}</ref> Rowland performed at the famous club [[Minsky's Burlesque|Minsky's]] in [[New York City]], where she earned the nickname "Ball of Fire" from both her flaming red hair and hot and fast style of dancing.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Legend: Betty Rowland {{!}} Red Hots Burlesque|url=http://redhotsburlesque.com/2013/legend-betty-rowlan/|access-date=2021-11-20}}</ref> She also appeared in some [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood movies]] such as ''[[Let's Make Music]]'' (1940), ''Spavaldi e innamorati'' (1959), ''[[Love & Kisses]]'' (1965), ''[[A Time for Dying]]'' (1969).
Betty Rowland performed at the famous club [[Minsky's Burlesque|Minsky's]] in [[New York City]], where she earned the nickname "Ball of Fire" from both her flaming red hair and hot and fast style of dancing.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Legend: Betty Rowland {{!}} Red Hots Burlesque|url=http://redhotsburlesque.com/2013/legend-betty-rowlan/|access-date=November 20, 2021}}</ref> She moved to [[Los Angeles, California]] in 1938. By 1941, the fresh-faced Rowland was established as a burlesque star. Unlike other exotic dancers who cultivated an aloof, statuesque attitude on stage to project a distant sort of glamour, Betty Rowland had a much more vivacious style, in which she was constantly smiling and prancing across the stage.


She attempted to sue producer [[Samuel Goldwyn]] for using "Ball of Fire" as the title for a [[Howard Hawks]] film starring [[Barbara Stanwyck]] and [[Gary Cooper]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Photos of burlesque dancer Betty Rowland going to jail|url=https://www.pulpinternational.com/pulp/entry/Photos-of-burlesque-dancer-Betty-Rowland-going-to-jail.html|access-date=November 20, 2021|website=www.pulpinternational.com}}</ref> She also appeared in some [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood movies]] such as ''[[Let's Make Music]]'' (1940), ''Spavaldi e innamorati'' (1959), ''[[Love & Kisses]]'' (1965), ''[[A Time for Dying]]'' (1969). In the 1960s, Rowland assumed ownership of a bar in [[Santa Monica, California]]; the bar was bought and renamed by investors in the 1990s, but she continued to work there as a hostess until at least 2009, when she was 93.<ref name = Green>{{cite news |last1=Green |first1=Penelope |title=Betty Rowland, One of Burlesque's Last Queens, Dies at 106 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/29/arts/betty-rowland-dead.html |access-date=June 29, 2022 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 29, 2022|url-access = limited}}</ref>
⚫
She appeared in numerous documentaries in 2004 and 2010,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2010-03-04|title=THE AMAZING BALL OF FIRE, BETTY ROWLAND: LOS ANGELES "PRETTY THINGS" & "BALL OF FIRE" BENEFIT SCREENING MARCH 9TH 8PM|url=https://ashadedviewonfashion.com/2010/03/04/the-amazing-ball-of-fire-bettry-rowlands-los-angeles-pretty-things-ball-of-fire-benift-screening/|access-date=2021-11-20|website=A Shaded View on Fashion}}</ref> also in a video named Forbidden Cinema: Volume 5 - Lost Blue Classics (2014).<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-01-25|title=Minsky Stripper Turns 100 (the Last Living Star of Burlesque)|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/minsky-stripper-turns-100_b_9065388|access-date=2021-11-20|website=HuffPost}}</ref>

⚫
She appeared in numerous documentaries in 2004 and 2010,<ref>{{Cite web|date=March 4, 2010|title=THE AMAZING BALL OF FIRE, BETTY ROWLAND: LOS ANGELES "PRETTY THINGS" & "BALL OF FIRE" BENEFIT SCREENING MARCH 9TH 8PM|url=https://ashadedviewonfashion.com/2010/03/04/the-amazing-ball-of-fire-bettry-rowlands-los-angeles-pretty-things-ball-of-fire-benift-screening/|access-date=November 20, 2021|website=A Shaded View on Fashion}}</ref> also in a video named Forbidden Cinema: Volume 5 – Lost Blue Classics (2014).<ref>{{Cite web|date=January 25, 2016|title=Minsky Stripper Turns 100 (the Last Living Star of Burlesque)|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/minsky-stripper-turns-100_b_9065388|access-date=November 20, 2021|website=HuffPost}}</ref>


== Personal life ==
== Personal life ==
Betty was married to [[Gus Schilling]], but they divorced. In her later years she helped run various bars, worked as a hostess at the French restaurant Anisette in [[Santa Monica, California]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Burlesque Past and Present: Betty "Ball of Fire" Rowland|url=https://blog.playfulpromises.com/blog/2012/5/8/burlesque-past-and-present-betty-ball-of-fire-rowland.html|access-date=2021-11-20|website=Playful Promises Blog}}</ref> She resides in a one bedroom apartment in [[Brentwood, Los Angeles]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2009-02-27|title=Minsky's girl lives on|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-feb-27-et-minskys27-story.html|access-date=2021-11-20|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Betty Rowland Photostream|url=https://www.zimbio.com/photos/Betty+Rowland/c88S8Iffxem/Launch+Party+Pretty+Things+Liz+Goldwyn+Sponsored|access-date=2021-11-20|website=Zimbio}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Liz Goldwyn and Betty Rowland during Liz Goldwyn "Pretty Things" Book...|url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/liz-goldwyn-and-betty-rowland-during-liz-goldwyn-pretty-news-photo/119234181|access-date=2021-11-20|website=Getty Images}}</ref>
Rowland was married to businessman Owen S. Dalton from 1956 to their divorce in 1963.<ref name = Green /> She was in a relationship with burlesque and film comedian [[Gus Schilling]], and they were often referred to as spouses, but Rowland later said that they never married.<ref name = Green/> In her later years she helped run various bars, worked as a hostess at the French restaurant Anisette in [[Santa Monica, California]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Burlesque Past and Present: Betty "Ball of Fire" Rowland|url=https://blog.playfulpromises.com/blog/2012/5/8/burlesque-past-and-present-betty-ball-of-fire-rowland.html|access-date=November 20, 2021|website=Playful Promises Blog}}</ref> In 2009, Rowland was living in an apartment in [[Brentwood, Los Angeles]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=February 27, 2009|title=Minsky's girl lives on|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-feb-27-et-minskys27-story.html|access-date=November 20, 2021|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> She died at a care facility in [[Culver City, California]] on April 3, 2022, at the age of 106. Her death was announced nearly 3 months later on June 30.<ref name = Green/>


== Filmography ==
== Filmography ==
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=== Films ===
=== Films ===


* ''[[Let's Make Music]]'' (1940) - Betty, Chorus Girl
* ''[[Let's Make Music]]'' (1940) – Betty, Chorus Girl
* ''Spavaldi e innamorati'' (1950) - Dorothy
* ''Spavaldi e innamorati'' (1950) – Dorothy
* ''[[Love & Kisses]]'' (1965) - Dancer
* ''[[Love & Kisses]]'' (1965) – Dancer
* ''[[A Time for Dying]]'' (1969) - Dancer
* ''[[A Time for Dying]]'' (1969) – Dancer
* [[Sunset Strip (2012 film)|''Sunset Strip'']] (2012)
* [[Sunset Strip (2012 film)|''Sunset Strip'']] (2012)
* ''Forbidden Cinema: Volume 5 - Lost Blue Classics'' (2014)
* ''Forbidden Cinema: Volume 5 – Lost Blue Classics'' (2014)


=== Documentaries ===
=== Documentaries ===


* ''The Last First Comic'' (2010)
* ''The Last First Comic'' (2010)
* ''[[Behind the Burly Q]]'' (2010)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Zemeckis|first=Leslie|url=https://books.google.al/books?id=Fe7pBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT143&dq=betty+rowland&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjM2968tqf0AhWKSPEDHUWCAAkQ6AF6BAgKEAI|title=Behind the Burly Q: The Story of Burlesque in America|date=2014-11-04|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.|isbn=978-1-62914-868-7}}</ref>
* ''[[Behind the Burly Q]]'' (2010)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Zemeckis|first=Leslie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fe7pBAAAQBAJ&dq=betty+rowland&pg=PT143|title=Behind the Burly Q: The Story of Burlesque in America|date=November 4, 2014|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.|isbn=978-1-62914-868-7}}</ref>
* [[Pretty Things (2005 film)|''Pretty Things'']] (2005)
* [[Pretty Things (2005 film)|''Pretty Things'']] (2005)
* ''Striptease: The Greatest Exotic Dancers of All Time'' (2004)
* ''Striptease: The Greatest Exotic Dancers of All Time'' (2004)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowland, Betty}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowland, Betty}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:2022 deaths]]
⚫
[[Category:American dancers]]
[[Category:American actresses]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:20th-century American dancers]]
[[Category:20th-century American dancers]]
[[Category:American centenarians]]
[[Category:American film actresses]]
[[Category:People from Columbus, Ohio]]
[[Category:American women centenarians]]
⚫
[[Category:American female dancers]]
[[Category:People from Brentwood, Los Angeles]]
[[Category:People from Brentwood, Los Angeles]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]
[[Category:People from Columbus, Ohio]]

Latest revision as of 16:13, 14 June 2024

Betty Rowland
Rowland in 1952
Born
Betty Jane Rowland

(1916-01-23)January 23, 1916
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
DiedApril 3, 2022(2022-04-03) (aged 106)
Culver City, California, U.S.
Other namesBall of Fire
Occupations
  • Actress
  • dancer
Spouse
Owen S. Dalton
​
​
(m. 1956; div. 1963)​
PartnerGus Schilling

Betty Jane Rowland (January 23, 1916 – April 3, 2022) was an American burlesque dancer[1] and actress, with a career spanning over eight decades. She was the last living performer of the "Golden Age of Burlesque" era.[2][3]

Early life

[edit]

Rowland was born to Alvah and Ida Rowland on January 23, 1916, in Columbus, Ohio.[4] Her father was an accountant who lost his job during the Great Depression. Betty and her sisters Dian and Roz Elle all started out as dancers in vaudeville before making the transition into burlesque.[5][6]

Career

[edit]
Rowland performing, c. 1946

Betty Rowland performed at the famous club Minsky's in New York City, where she earned the nickname "Ball of Fire" from both her flaming red hair and hot and fast style of dancing.[7] She moved to Los Angeles, California in 1938. By 1941, the fresh-faced Rowland was established as a burlesque star. Unlike other exotic dancers who cultivated an aloof, statuesque attitude on stage to project a distant sort of glamour, Betty Rowland had a much more vivacious style, in which she was constantly smiling and prancing across the stage.

She attempted to sue producer Samuel Goldwyn for using "Ball of Fire" as the title for a Howard Hawks film starring Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper.[8] She also appeared in some Hollywood movies such as Let's Make Music (1940), Spavaldi e innamorati (1959), Love & Kisses (1965), A Time for Dying (1969). In the 1960s, Rowland assumed ownership of a bar in Santa Monica, California; the bar was bought and renamed by investors in the 1990s, but she continued to work there as a hostess until at least 2009, when she was 93.[4]

She appeared in numerous documentaries in 2004 and 2010,[9] also in a video named Forbidden Cinema: Volume 5 – Lost Blue Classics (2014).[10]

Personal life

[edit]

Rowland was married to businessman Owen S. Dalton from 1956 to their divorce in 1963.[4] She was in a relationship with burlesque and film comedian Gus Schilling, and they were often referred to as spouses, but Rowland later said that they never married.[4] In her later years she helped run various bars, worked as a hostess at the French restaurant Anisette in Santa Monica, California.[11] In 2009, Rowland was living in an apartment in Brentwood, Los Angeles.[12] She died at a care facility in Culver City, California on April 3, 2022, at the age of 106. Her death was announced nearly 3 months later on June 30.[4]

Filmography

[edit]

Films

[edit]

Documentaries

[edit]
  • The Last First Comic (2010)
  • Behind the Burly Q (2010)[13]
  • Pretty Things (2005)
  • Striptease: The Greatest Exotic Dancers of All Time (2004)
  • Gypsy (TV Series 1965)
  • International Burlesque (1950)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Sage, Dusty (June 7, 2016). Burlesque In a Nutshell - Girls, Gimmicks & Gags. BearManor Media.
  2. ^ "Minsky Stripper Turns 100 (the Last Living Star of Burlesque)". Huffington Post. January 25, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  3. ^ Red Haired Riot (Burlesque, & Other Burlesque Strippers) [Program 1], retrieved November 20, 2021
  4. ^ a b c d e Green, Penelope (June 29, 2022). "Betty Rowland, One of Burlesque's Last Queens, Dies at 106". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  5. ^ "Betty Rowland | Burlesque Hall of Fame". Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  6. ^ "Burlesque dancer Betty Rowland on stage performing before male audience, circa 1946". digital.library.ucla.edu. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  7. ^ "Legend: Betty Rowland | Red Hots Burlesque". Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  8. ^ "Photos of burlesque dancer Betty Rowland going to jail". www.pulpinternational.com. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  9. ^ "THE AMAZING BALL OF FIRE, BETTY ROWLAND: LOS ANGELES "PRETTY THINGS" & "BALL OF FIRE" BENEFIT SCREENING MARCH 9TH 8PM". A Shaded View on Fashion. March 4, 2010. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  10. ^ "Minsky Stripper Turns 100 (the Last Living Star of Burlesque)". HuffPost. January 25, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  11. ^ "Burlesque Past and Present: Betty "Ball of Fire" Rowland". Playful Promises Blog. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  12. ^ "Minsky's girl lives on". Los Angeles Times. February 27, 2009. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  13. ^ Zemeckis, Leslie (November 4, 2014). Behind the Burly Q: The Story of Burlesque in America. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-1-62914-868-7.
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