Polly Adler
Polly Adler | |
---|---|
Born | April 16, 1900 Yanow, Belarus |
Died | June 9, 1962 Hollywood, California, U.S. | (aged 62)
Nationality | American |
Occupation(s) | madam, author |
Pearl "Polly" Adler (April 16, 1900 – June 9, 1962)
Early life
Of
The family lived at
World War I delayed the rest of her family from immigrating to America until after the end of the war. The war also prevented her from receiving the monthly allowance sent by her father. She lived for a time with family friends in Springfield, Massachusetts, where she cleaned house and attended school and, at age 14, began working in the local paper mill; the following year she moved to Brooklyn, living for a time with cousins.[1] Adler worked as a seamstress and at clothing factories and sporadically attended school. At the age of 17, while working in a corset factory for $5 a week, she was raped by her foreman and became pregnant. She found a doctor who was charging $150 to perform abortions. The doctor took pity, when she said she only had $35 and accepting only $25 told her to "take the rest and buy some shoes and stockings."[6] Ostracized by her cousins, she moved to Manhattan and continued working in a factory.
At 19, she began to enjoy the company of theater people in
of show business. They gave Pearl the nickname "Polly."At this very apartment, in 1920, she was introduced to Nicolas Montana, whose business was
Bordello owner
As Adler's business grew, she invested in a series of improvements, moving to grander accommodations and updating the interiors where necessary.[6]
One building in which she plied her trade was
Her brothel's patrons included
There has been speculation that New York State Supreme Court justice Joseph Force Crater, who vanished on August 6, 1930, died in Adler's brothel.[12][13]
Adler was a shrewd businesswoman with a mind for marketing. She determined that gaining publicity would be to her advantage, and she cultivated newspaper coverage by dressing flamboyantly, making grand appearances at nightclubs and drawing attention to her beautiful employees. She also made large bribes to city and law enforcement officials to keep her business open.[1] Adler's brothels were distinguished by drink from the best bootleggers, food from her own private cooks, good hygiene and well-selected, mostly working-class girls. It was reported that during the early days of the Depression, Adler was able to turn away up to 40 young women for every one she hired.[5]
In the early 1930s, Adler was a star witness of the
Adler retired in 1945, later attending high school and earning an associate degree at
Trials
The world knew Polly as a madam, but her friends knew her as an intelligent woman, fun to be with, and a good cook.
– Milton Berle[10]
Spring 1935
During
"A plea of guilty was entered for Polly Adler in Special Sessions yesterday to a charge of possessing a 'motion picture machine with objectionable pictures' in her East Fifty-fifth Street apartment when it was raided by the police last March 5."[15]
"Another unexpected plea of guilty to maintaining an objectionable apartment at 30 East Fifty-fifth Street blocked in Special Sessions yesterday the trial of Polly Adler[16][17] on that and another charge that she kept an 'obscene motion picture film' in the suite last March when it was raided."[18]
January 1943
"Polly Adler is in the prison ward of Bellevue Hospital, it became known yesterday, awaiting a hearing for the seventeenth time for maintaining a house of prostitution."—"Polly Adler Seized Again; III in Bellevue Hospital Awaiting Hearing for 17th Time". The New York Times. January 16, 1943. p. 28.
"A charge of keeping and maintaining a house for prostitution against Pearl Davis, better known as Polly Adler, was dismissed by Magistrate Thomas H. Cullen in Woman's Court yesterday after the court ruled that police had failed to establish a case."—"Polly Adler Is Freed; Court Holds Police Failed to Establish a Case". The New York Times. January 27, 1943. p. 23.
Television and film portrayals
The television show
Death
Adler died of cancer in Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, California. She is buried in the Maimonides section of Mt. Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles.[20]
At 62 years old, she left her mother and 6 brothers behind, as well as rumors of an unfinished sequel to her book.[21]
Autobiography
Editions
- Polly Adler (1953). A house is not a home. New York, Toronto: Rinehart & Co. Inc. OL 6114335M.
- Polly Adler; Rachel Rubin (2006). A House Is Not a Home. Univ. of Massachusetts Press. LCCN 2006018584.
Translations
- Polly Adler (1964). Case chiuse. Marisa Bulgheroni, translator. Milano: A. Mondadori.
- Polly Adler: Madam P. und ihre Mädchen, Lichtenberg Verlag, München, 1965
References
- ^ ISBN 9780674627338.
- ^ "Polly Adler Dead". pqasb.pqarchiver.com. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
- ^ "Polly Adler". Jewish Virtual Library. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
- ISBN 9780824053062.
- ^ a b c d e f Bren, Paulina (November 2, 2021). "The Manhattan 'Madam' Who Hobnobbed With the City's Elite". The New York Times. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Abbott, Karen (April 12, 2012). "The House that Polly Adler Built". Smithsonian. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
- ^ Jacobs, Lisa (Winter 2002). "Majestic Towers' Dirty Little Secret". 215 West 75 Street building newsletter. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
- ^ Schwartz, Ben (April 5, 2016). "The Double Life of Peter Arno, The New Yorker's Most Influential Cartoonist". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on May 4, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
- ^ a b Applegate, Debby (November 2, 2021). "The Literary Adventures of Polly Adler, the Algonquin Round Table's Favorite Madam". Lit Hub. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-06-087434-6. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
- ^ Dorothy Parker Society, "Polly Adler's Brothel" Archived October 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Dorothy Parker Society
- ^ Rasmussen, Frederick N. (January 5, 2008). "7 decades later, judge's vanishing still a mystery". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
- ISBN 978-1566636056. Retrieved February 19, 2013.
- ^ Tanenhaus, Sam (December 12, 2009). "Tiger Woods and the Perils of Modern Celebrity". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 26, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
- ^ "Polly Adler Enters a Plea of Guilty". The New York Times. April 16, 1935. p. 9. Archived from the original on July 22, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
- ^ http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/U727642INP/police-escorting-vice-queen March 5, 1935 Archived September 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ http://www.jamd.com/image/g/80634152 March 14, 1935
- ^ "Polly Adler Makes a New Guilty Plea". The New York Times. May 7, 1935. p. 10. Archived from the original on July 22, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
- ^ "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)". IMDb. Archived from the original on April 21, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
- ^ Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More than 14000 Famous Persons, Scott Wilson
- ProQuest 115754692.
- LCCN 52-12105
- "Polly Adler Dead; Wrote 'A House Is Not a Home'". The Washington Post. June 11, 1962. p. B4. Retrieved April 19, 2015.[permanent dead link]
- Millin, Ann. "Polly Adler". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
- "Queen of Tarts". Time. September 4, 1964. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved April 19, 2015. (subscription required)
Further reading
- Applegate, Debby (2021). Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age (Hardback). New York: Knopf Doubleday. ISBN 978-0385534758.