Betty Rowland

	Betty Rowland
	; Rowland on her 100th birthday in 2016.
Birth:	23 January 1916; Columbus, Ohio, USA
Death:	3 April 2022; Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA
Age:	106 years, 70 days
Country:	USA
	Centenarian

Betty Jane Rowland (23 January 1916 – 3 April 2022) was an American centenarian, Burlesque dancer, and actress, with a career spanning over eight decades. She was considered to be the last living performer of Golden Age of Burlesque era.

Early life[]

Rowland was born in Columbus, Ohio, USA on 23 January 1916. She moved to Los Angeles in 1938. In 1941, 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.

Career[]

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. 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. 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).

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

Personal life[]

She was married to actor Gus Schilling, but they divorced. In her later years, she helped run various bars, and worked as a hostess at the French restaurant Anisette in Santa Monica, California.

Betty Rowland died in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA on 3 April 2022, at the age of 106 years, 70 days.