Sydney Biddle Barrows (born January 14, 1952) is an American businesswoman and socialite who became known as an

escort agency An escort agency is a company that provides escorts for clients, usually for sexual services. The agency typically arranges a meeting between one of its escorts and the client at the customer's house or hotel room (outcall), or at the escort's ...

owner under the name Sheila Devin; she later became known as "The Mayflower Madam". She has since become a management consultant and writer. In October 1984, her escort service was disbanded, and after pleading guilty and being fined $5,000 for promoting prostitution, she wrote a 1986 autobiography, ''Mayflower Madam: The Secret Life of Sydney Biddle Barrows''. A TV movie based on the book starring

Candice Bergen Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the title character on the CBS sitcom ''Murphy Brown'' (1988–1998, 2018). She is also know ...

was broadcast in 1987 under the title ''Mayflower Madam''.

Early life, education and career

Barrows comes from the

Biddle family The Biddle family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is an Old Philadelphian family descended from English immigrants William Biddle (1630–1712) and Sarah Kempe (1634–1709), who arrived in the Province of New Jersey in 1681. Quakers, they had emig ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania and is descended from ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

'' passengers William Brewster,

John Howland John Howland (February 23, 1673) accompanied the English Separatists and other passengers when they left England on the to settle in Plymouth Colony. He was an indentured servant and in later years an executive assistant and personal secretary ...

, Elizabeth Tilley, and Thomas Rogers. Her father is Donald Byers Barrows, Jr. (born 1926) of Rumson, New Jersey, and her mother is Jeannette Ballantine, who is now married to Felix Molzer, a musician and director of the Monmouth Arts Center, N.J. Barrows attended Stoneleigh-Burnham, a girls' boarding school in

Greenfield, Massachusetts Greenfield is a city in and the county seat of Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Greenfield was first settled in 1686. The population was 17,768 at the 2020 census. Greenfield is home to Greenfield Community College, the Pioneer Val ...

, and is an alumna of the

Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college in New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) and focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. It ...

(FIT) in New York City. She worked in 1975 as an assistant to Alan Snyder, the bath buyer for

Abraham & Straus Abraham & Straus, commonly shortened to A&S, was a major New York City department store, based in Brooklyn. Founded in 1865, it became part of Federated Department Stores in 1929. Shortly after Federated's 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company ...

. She was introduced to the world of high-class prostitution and started her own escort service named Cachet, which existed in New York City from 1979 to 1984. Some of its clients included industrialists, high-powered business executives, lawyers, foreign diplomats, and Arabian oil sheiks. In October 1984, Cachet was shut down, Barrows was arrested, and the

Manhattan District Attorney The New York County District Attorney, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney, is the elected district attorney for New York County (Manhattan), New York. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws ...

's Office charged her with promoting prostitution. When arrested at her home office on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

of Manhattan, Barrows identified herself as Sheila Devin; one report describes her as the CEO. The name "Mayflower Madam" was coined by a ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' reporter, Peter Fearon, who broke the story of Barrows's Mayflower connections. After her guilty plea, Barrows published a best-selling autobiography, ''Mayflower Madam: The Secret Life of Sydney Biddle Barrows'' (1986). Barrows appeared in 1987 on the late-night television series ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' with a parody of her book; the sketch included

, who portrayed Barrows in the made-for-TV movie ''Mayflower Madam'' (1987). Barrows subsequently wrote two books on sexual etiquette. In late 2008, Barrows finished ''Uncensored Sales Strategies: A Radical New Approach to Selling Your Customers What They Really Want—No Matter What Business You're In'', co-authored with marketing expert Dan Kennedy. Since the mid-late 1990s, Barrows has run a consulting business with a focus on customer service and experience.

Personal life

Barrows was divorced from the late Darnay Hoffman, a high-profile lawyer.

In popular culture

* After pleading guilty for promoting prostitution, Barrows wrote a 1986 autobiography, ''Mayflower Madam: The Secret Life of Sydney Biddle Barrows''. A TV movie based on this book and starring actress

was broadcast in 1987 under the title ''Mayflower Madam''. * The ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...

'' episode " By Hooker, by Crook" is based on the Sydney Biddle Barrows case. * The ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann (director), Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo ...

'' episode " By Hooker by Crook" is also based on the Sydney Biddle Barrows case.

Works

* ''Mayflower Madam: The Secret Life of Sydney Biddle Barrows'' (1986). With

William Novak William Novak (born 1948) is a Canadian–American author who has co-written or ghostwritten numerous celebrity memoirs for people including Lee Iacocca, Nancy Reagan, and Magic Johnson. He is also the editor, with Moshe Waldoks, of ''The Big Book ...

. New York:

Arbor House Arbor House was an independent publishing house founded by Donald Fine in 1969. Specializing in hard cover publications, Arbor House published works by Hortense Calisher, Ken Follett, Cynthia Freeman, Elmore Leonard and Irwin Shaw before being ac ...

. , . * ''Mayflower Manners: Etiquette for Consenting Adults'' (1990). With Ellis Weiner. New York: Doubleday. . * ''Just Between Us Girls: Secrets About Men from the Mayflower Madam'' (1996). With

Judith Newman Judith B. Newman (born 1961) is an American journalist and author. She writes about entertainment, relationships, parenthood, business, beauty, books, science, and popular culture. Her work has appeared in more than fifty periodicals, including ...

. New York:

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

. , . * ''Uncensored Sales Strategies: A Radical New Approach to Selling Your Customers What They Really Want – No Matter What Business You're In'' (2009). With Dan Kennedy. Entrepreneur Press. , .

References

External links