Honey Bruce Friedman (born Harriett Jolliff; August 15, 1927 – September 12, 2005), also known by her professional name Honey Harlow, was an American stripper 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 ...

who was married to stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce. In 1976 she released her autobiography, titled ''Honey: The Life and Loves of Lenny's Shady Lady''.

Early life

Friedman was born Harriett Jolliff in

Manila, Arkansas Manila is a city in Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 3,682 at the 2020 census, up from 3,342 in 2010. It was the hometown of World War I sniper Herman Davis. A park in the town honors his memory. History Manila ha ...

, the daughter of unmarried teenage parents Mabel Layson and Murl Jolliff. She never knew her father, who died in a

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

sanitarium. She was named after her paternal grandmother, Harriett Joliff (1877–1941), but as a child her nickname was Poochie. Her mother, Mabel, moved her and her sister Virginia to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, Michigan, in search of work. Finding work at nightclubs, Mabel married a local hustler who often was in trouble with the law. While ostensibly owning a bookshop, in reality he was operating an illegal business from their attic. Young Harriet's mother and step-father enforced strict

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

rules on her, and reportedly the home was an abusive environment. Harriet dreamed of leaving home for a career in show business, and she intently studied Hollywood movie stars like

Lana Turner Lana Turner ( ; born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized pe ...

and

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

. Harriet's unstable home life led to rebellion, and she started skipping school and staying away from home. Eventually she ran away from home with a female friend and two boys to nearby

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

, and from there, the four teenagers went to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The boys hot-wired cars to steal transportation, and soon they arrived in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

where they rented a room. To earn money to support themselves, the girls answered an ad in the paper for showgirls; Harriet was hired to be a topless dancer, but her friend was deemed not pretty enough and so was given a job as a

cigarette girl In Europe and the United States, a cigarette girl is a person who sells or provides cigarettes from a tray held by a neck strap. They may also carry cigars and other items like candy, snacks, and chewing gum on their trays. Uniform The most ...

. Once Harriet had earned enough money for the group to continue on their journey, she quit the dancing job, and the group planned to move from Miami Beach to Palm Beach. The two boys she was with had enlisted in the army and were "sowing some oats" before heading to basic training for World War II. One of the boys raped Harriet while she was sleeping, which she shrugged off as "the way things were." Harriet's friend left the group and went home to Detroit. With Harriet and the two boys in need of more money, they decided to break into a

vending machine A vending machine is an automated machine that provides items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The ...

. They broke out the glass and managed to get cigarettes, candy, and cash into their pockets and escaped on foot into a nearby orange grove, but were caught by police. Once in custody, it was established that the group was responsible for several cars being stolen in addition to the theft, and Harriet was sentenced to one year incarceration at

Florida State Prison Florida State Prison (FSP), otherwise known as Raiford Prison, is a correctional institution located in unincorporated Bradford County, Florida. It was formerly known as the "Florida State Prison-East Unit" as it was originally part of Florida St ...

. After her release, she successfully worked as a stripper in Miami under the name Hot Honey Harlow.

Lenny Bruce

On June 15, 1951, she married comedian Lenny Bruce after meeting him in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. Bruce tried to become her manager and make her a legitimate star, but she fought against this. She sometimes performed with her husband on stage, including an act based on the ''

Bride of Frankenstein ''Bride of Frankenstein'' is a 1935 American science fiction horror film, and the first sequel to Universal Pictures' 1931 film ''Frankenstein''. As with the first film, ''Bride of Frankenstein'' was directed by James Whale starring Boris Kar ...

''. As an actress she appeared in the 1953 indie film '' Dance Hall Racket'', which also starred Lenny Bruce. They divorced on January 21, 1957, after having a daughter, Kitty. The two fought a custody battle over their daughter.

Later life

Harlow successfully lobbied New York Governor

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...

to pardon Bruce posthumously for the obscenity conviction resulting from his performance and arrest at the

Cafe Au Go Go The Cafe Au Go Go was a Greenwich Village night club located in the basement of the New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre building in the late 1960s, and located at 152 Bleecker Street in Manhattan, New York City. The club featured many musical groups, f ...

in Greenwich Village in 1964. Lenny Bruce died of a drug overdose in 1966, and she continued to promote his legacy. She is credited in the 1974 film ''Lenny'' as being an advisor for the film. She married Jeffrey Friedman in 1984, and they remained married and lived in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

until her death. She had legally changed her name to Honey Bruce Friedman.

Death

She died on September 12, 2005, in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

In popular culture

She was portrayed by

Valerie Perrine Valerie Ritchie Perrine (born September 3, 1943) is an American actress. For her role as Honey Bruce in the 1974 film ''Lenny'', she won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles, the Cannes Film Festival Award for Bes ...

in the 1974 biopic '' Lenny'', for which Perrine was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year ...

. Caitlin Mehner portrays Honey Bruce in the 2017 TV series ''

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'' is an American period comedy-drama television series, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, that premiered on March 17, 2017, on Amazon Prime Video. Set in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it stars Rachel Brosnahan as ...

''.

Filmography

*'' Princess of the Nile'' (1954) *'' Dance Hall Racket'' (1953)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Honey 1927 births 2005 deaths American female erotic dancers American erotic dancers People from Detroit People from Manila, Arkansas Lenny Bruce