Pearl "Polly" Adler (April 16, 1900 – June 9, 1962)
was an American
madam
Madam (), or madame ( or ), is a polite and formal form of address for Woman, women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am (pronounced in American English and this way but also in British English). The term derives from the French ...
and author, best known for her work ''A House Is Not a Home'', which was posthumously adapted into a
film of the same name. In 2021,
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
-winning historian
Debby Applegate
Debby Applegate is an American historian and biographer. She is the author of ''Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age'' and '' The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher'', for which she won the 2007 ...
published a comprehensive account of Adler's life and times entitled ''Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age'' with
Doubleday.
Early life
Of
Russian-Jewish
The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...
origin, Pearl Adler was the eldest of nine children of Gertrude Koval and Morris Adler, a tailor who travelled throughout Europe on business. Her early education was from the village rabbi.
The family was living at
Yanow (a city that was then part of Imperial Russia, but which is now in western Belarus, near the Polish border) when, with the number of pogroms increasing, her parents sent her, at age 13, to accompany a cousin to America. Halfway through the journey, her cousin decided to turn back at the first opportunity, ultimately leaving Adler on her own.
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
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
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...
, 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.
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."
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
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, and became an apartment mate of an actress and
showgirl
A showgirl is a female dancer or performer in a stage entertainment show intended to showcase the performer's physical attributes, typically by way of revealing clothing, toplessness, or nudity.
History
Showgirls date back to the late 180 ...
on
Riverside Drive in New York City. The street was known in the city's Yiddish slang as "Allrightnik’s Row", suggesting that its residents had "made it".
[ Her new friends were involved in ]vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
, Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
revues
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...
, Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...
, burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. and the even sleazier underbelly
Underbelly is the side of something that is not normally seen. Figuratively, it means a vulnerable or weak part, similar to the term Achilles' heel, or alternatively, a hidden, illicit side of society.
This term could refer to:
Business
* ...
of show business. They gave Pearl the nickname "Polly."
At this very apartment, in 1920, she was introduced to Nicolas Montana, whose business was procuring women to work in brothels
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub pa ...
. Montana set Adler up in a furnished, two-room apartment across from Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where Polly soon began to procure prostitutes for Montana and his friends, earning $100 a week for her troubles.[ One evening, Adler was arrested and charged with procuring, but the case was dismissed for lack of evidence. After a brief attempt to run a lingerie shop, she returned to her previous role in the sex industry, determined to succeed with it.][ This time, she made a point of befriending the police, slipping a $100 bill into a cop's palm whenever she shook his hand.][
]
Bordello owner
As Adler's business grew, she invested in a series of improvements, moving to grander accommodations and updating the interiors where necessary.[
One building in which she plied her trade was The Majestic, at 215 West 75th Street, designed by architects ]Schwartz and Gross Schwartz & Gross was a New York City architectural firm active from at least 1901 to 1963,Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...
's tomb, a Chinese Room where visitors could play mahjong
Mahjong or mah-jongg (English pronunciation: ) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-play ...
and a Gobelin tapestry
The Gobelins Manufactory () is a historic tapestry factory in Paris, France. It is located at 42 avenue des Gobelins, near Les Gobelins métro station in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. It was originally established on the site as a medieva ...
as well as hidden stairways and secret doorways.
Her brothel's patrons included Peter Arno
Curtis Arnoux Peters, Jr. (January 8, 1904 – February 22, 1968), known professionally as Peter Arno, was an American cartoonist. He contributed cartoons and 101 covers to ''The New Yorker'' from 1925, the magazine's first year, until 1968, the ...
, Harold Ross
Harold Wallace Ross (November 6, 1892 – December 6, 1951) was an American journalist who co-founded ''The New Yorker'' magazine in 1925 with his wife Jane Grant, and was its editor-in-chief until his death.
Early life
Born in a prospector's ...
, Desi Arnaz
Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was a Cuban-born American actor, bandleader, and film and television producer. He played Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom ''I Lov ...
, George S. Kaufman
George Simon Kaufman (November 16, 1889June 2, 1961) was an American playwright, theater director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals for the Marx Brothers and others. ...
, who had an account and would pay for the services rendered at the end of each month, Robert Benchley
Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor. From his beginnings at ''The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, thro ...
,[ ]Donald Ogden Stewart
Donald Ogden Stewart (November 30, 1894 – August 2, 1980) was an American writer and screenwriter best known for his sophisticated golden age comedies and melodramas such as '' The Philadelphia Story'' (based on the play by Philip Barry), ''T ...
,[ ]Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles.
From a conflicted and unhap ...
who would chat with Adler while her male friends availed themselves of the services,[ ]Milton Berle
Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over 80 years, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and tel ...
,[ ]John Garfield
John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle, March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of ...
,[ New York City mayor ]Jimmy Walker
James John Walker (June 19, 1881November 18, 1946), known colloquially as Beau James, was mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932. A flamboyant politician, he was a liberal Democrat and part of the powerful Tammany Hall machine. He was forced t ...
, and mobster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...
Dutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz (born Arthur Simon Flegenheimer; August 6, 1901October 24, 1935) was an American mobster. Based in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s, he made his fortune in organized crime-related activities, including bootlegging and the nu ...
.[Dorothy Parker Society, "Polly Adler's Brothel"]
, Dorothy Parker Society Another regular patron was Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and co ...
, who commented when a young bandleader who was attracted to Adler, that he could have had any woman he desired, and was instead dating a "broken-down old whore and an ugly one at that".
There has been speculation that New York State Supreme Court justice Joseph Force Crater
Joseph Force Crater (January 5, 1889 – disappeared August 6, 1930; declared legally dead June 6, 1939) was a New York State Supreme Court Justice who mysteriously vanished amid a political scandal. He was last seen leaving a restaurant on West ...
, who vanished on August 6, 1930, died in Adler's brothel
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...
.
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. 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.
In the early 1930s, Adler was a star witness of the Seabury Commission
The Hofstadter Committee, also known as the Seabury investigations, was a joint legislative committee formed by the New York State Legislature on behalf of Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt to probe into corruption in New York City, especially the mag ...
investigations and spent a few months in hiding in Florida to avoid testifying. She refused to give up any mob names when apprehended by the police.[
Adler retired in 1945, later attending high school and earning an associate degree at ]Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus ...
. In 1953, she published a bestselling memoir, ghost-written by Virginia Faulkner. ''A House Is Not a Home'' was published by Rinehart and Co. and sold two million copies in both hard cover and mass-market paperback. Her notoriety led her to be included in Cleveland Amory
Cleveland Amory (September 2, 1917 – October 14, 1998) was an American author, reporter, television critic, commentator and animal rights activist. He originally was known for writing a series of popular books poking fun at the pretensions an ...
's 1959 Celebrity Register. She died of lung cancer in Los Angeles in 1962. '' A House Is Not a Home'' was made into a movie two years later, starring Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''A Patch o ...
as Adler.
Trials
Spring 1935
During Fiorello La Guardia
Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fro ...
's time as a mayor, Polly Adler and three of her girls were brought to court. She pleaded guilty and was subsequently sentenced to 30 days in jail
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
(of which she served 24, scrubbing the jail floors in May and June 1935) and paid an additional $500 fine.
"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."
"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 on that and another charge that she kept an 'obscene motion picture film' in the suite last March when it was raided."
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."—
"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."—
Television and film portrayals
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''A Patch o ...
portrayed Adler in the 1964 film version of Adler's book.[ The 1989 '']Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...
'' TV-movie
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
''Musical Murder'' revolved around a faux-musical based on Adler. Adler was portrayed by the actress Gisèle Rousseau in the 1994 film ''Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
''Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle'' is a 1994 American biographical film, biographical drama (film and television), drama film directed by Alan Rudolph from a screenplay written by Rudolph and Randy Sue Coburn. The film stars Jennifer Jason Le ...
''.
The television show ''M*A*S*H
''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker.
The ...
'' episode "Bulletin Board" features a party/picnic called the "First Annual Polly Adler Birthday Cook-out Picnic and Bar-B-Que", with all proceeds going to Sr. Teresa's Orphanage. The picnic scene climaxes with a tug of war
Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...
between the officers and enlisted men. In the episode "Goodbye, Cruel World", Colonel Potter
This is a list of characters from the ''M*A*S*H'' franchise, covering the various fictional characters appearing in the novel '' MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors'' and its sequels, the 1970 film adaptation of the novel, and the televisio ...
asks "Why does my company clerk's office look like Polly Adler's parlor?" after Corporal Klinger
This is a list of characters from the ''M*A*S*H'' franchise, covering the various fictional characters appearing in the novel '' MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors'' and its sequels, the 1970 film adaptation of the novel, and the televisio ...
does some redecorating with items sent from home.
Death
Adler died of cancer in Cedars of Lebanon Hospital
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...
in Los Angeles, California. She is buried in the Maimonides section of Mt. Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles.
At 62 years old, she left her mother and 6 brothers behind, as well as rumors of an unfinished sequel to her book.
Autobiography
Editions
*
*
Translations
*
* Polly Adler: Madam P. und ihre Mädchen, Lichtenberg Verlag, München, 1965
References
* ,
*
*
*
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adler, Polly
1900 births
1962 deaths
People from Ivanava District
People from Kobrinsky Uyezd
20th-century Belarusian Jews
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States
American autobiographers
American brothel owners and madams
American female organized crime figures
Jewish American gangsters
Women autobiographers
20th-century American women writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
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20th-century American businesswomen
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People from the Upper West Side
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