An iron girl in a velvet glove : the life of Joan Rhodes
Holden, Triona2021
Books
With her hourglass figure and Marilyn Monroe looks, Joan Rhodes would leave audiences speechless as she bent steel bars with her teeth, ripped large phone books into quarters, and lifted two men at a time. But what she did was real. Joan had a superstrength, forged out of desperation to survive. Born into poverty in 1920s London and abandoned by her parents, Joan endured a spell in the workhouse and earned scraps busking on the streets. Joan's crowning glory was to perform for the Queen and Prince Philip at Windsor Castle, and along the way she made lifelong friendships with Marlene Dietrich, Quentin Crisp and Dame Laura Knight, kindred spirits who lived as fearlessly as she did. At a time when women were still groomed for marriage and motherhood, 'An Iron Girl in a Velvet Glove' tells the fascinating and tumultuous story of a woman who followed her own unique path.
Main title:
An iron girl in a velvet glove : the life of Joan Rhodes / Triona Holden.
Author:
Holden, Triona, author
Imprint:
Cheltenham : The History Press, 2021.
Collation:
288 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
ISBN:
9780750996792 (hbk. :)
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
2531721
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