Xaviera Hollander (born 15 June 1943) is a Dutch former

call girl A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who (unlike a street walker) does not display her profession to the general public, nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency.< ...

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. She is best known for her best-selling memoir '' The Happy Hooker: My Own Story''.

Early life

Hollander was born Xaviera "Vera" de Vries in

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...

, Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies, which later became part of present-day

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, to a

Dutch Jewish The history of the Jews in the Netherlands began largely in the 16th century when they began to settle in Amsterdam and other cities. It has continued to the present. During the occupation of the Netherlands by Nazi Germany in May 1940, the J ...

physician father and a mother of French and German descent. She spent the first years of her life in a Japanese-run internment camp. In her early 20s, she left

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

for

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, where her stepsister lived. There she met and became engaged to John Weber, an American economist. When the engagement was broken off, she left South Africa for

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Career

In 1968 she resigned from her job as a secretary in the Dutch consulate 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 ...

to become a

, making $1,000 a night ($ today). A year later, she opened her own brothel, the Vertical Whorehouse, and soon became

's leading madam. In 1971, she was arrested for

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

by New York Police and forced to leave the United States.

Author

In 1971, Hollander published a memoir, ''

The Happy Hooker ''The Happy Hooker: My Own Story'' is a best-selling memoir by Xaviera Hollander, a call girl, published in 1971. It sold over 20 million copies. Robin Moore, who took Hollander's dictations of the book's contents, came up with the title, while Y ...

: My Own Story.''

Robin Moore Robert Lowell Moore Jr. (October 31, 1925 – February 21, 2008) was an American writer who wrote '' The Green Berets'', '' The French Connection: A True Account of Cops, Narcotics, and International Conspiracy'', and with Xaviera Hollander and ...

, who took Hollander's dictation of the book's contents, came up with the title, while Yvonne Dunleavy ghostwrote it. Hollander later wrote a number of other books and produced plays in

. Her second book, ''Child No More'', is the story of losing her mother. For 35 years, she wrote an advice column for ''

Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building *Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...

'' magazine, entitled "Call Me Madam."

Other ventures

In the early 1970s, she recorded a primarily spoken-word album titled ''Xaviera!'' for the Canadian

GRT Records GRT Records was the name of both a U.S. and a Canadian record label, both created by General Recorded Tape, a California-based company that existed from 1965 to 1979.Richard GreenGRT of Canada, Ltd. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2013-02-26. ...

label (GRT 9230-1033), on which she discussed her philosophy regarding sex and prostitution, sang a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

' song " Michelle", and recorded several simulated sexual encounters, including an example of phone sex, a

threesome In human sexuality, a threesome is commonly understood as "a sexual interaction between three people whereby at least one engages in physical sexual behaviour with both the other individuals". Though ''threesome'' most commonly refers to sexua ...

and a celebrity encounter with guest "vocal" by

Ronnie Hawkins Ronald Cornett Hawkins (January 10, 1935 – May 29, 2022) was an American singer-songwriter, long based in Canada, whose career spanned more than half a century. His career began in Arkansas, United States, where he was born and raised. He ...

. ''Xaviera's Game'', an erotic board game, was released in 1974 by Reiss Games, Inc. In 1975, she starred in the semi-autobiographical film ''My Pleasure is My Business''. Beginning in 2005, she operated Xaviera's Happy House, a bed and breakfast within her Amsterdam home.

Personal life

For several years in the 1970s, Hollander lived in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, where she married Frank Applebaum, a Canadian antique dealer, and was a regular fixture in the downtown scene. She mentions a lover named John Drummond, with whom she partnered for many years, co-authoring two books, including ''Let's Get Moving'' (1988) about their life together: "I went there with, what for years had been the love of my life, John Drummond, a wild Scottish intellectual who, at times, liked his whisky, beer and wines too much. We had great sex, often up to 3 times a day—all that and he was about 17 years older than me". During a 2018 interview, she revealed a darker side in the relationship with a man she called "the love of my life!": "The love of my life 25 years ago, John Drummond, a brilliant and boisterous Scotsman with a 'Thatcheresque' accent had, especially under the influence of a few scotches, beers, or wine, become quite destructive towards me. He is the only one who managed to deprive me of my self-esteem or identity, temporarily. He used to say that a British man’s way of saying 'I love you' is to put his woman down." Drummond is listed as one of her husbands. Hollander claimed to have "turned gay" around 1997, establishing a long-term relationship with a Dutch poet called Dia. In January 2007, she married a Dutch man, Philip de Haan, in Amsterdam.

Films and other works

Hollander has been depicted in film five times: * '' The Life and Times of Xaviera Hollander'', an X-rated film released in 1974, portrayed by Samantha McLaren * ''The Best Part of a Man'', released in 1975, portrayed by Artistae Stiftung * ''

'', released in 1975, portrayed by

Lynn Redgrave Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards throughout her career. A member of the Redgrave family of actors, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. By ...

* ''

The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington ''The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington'' is a 1977 American comedy film directed by William A. Levey. It was the sequel to '' The Happy Hooker'', which was released in 1975. Joey Heatherton replaced Lynn Redgrave as the lead character of Xaviera ...

'', released in 1977, portrayed by

Joey Heatherton Davenie Johanna "Joey" Heatherton (born September 14, 1944) is an American actress, dancer, and singer. A sex symbol of the 1960s and 1970s, she is best known for her many television appearances during that time, particularly as a frequent varie ...

* ''

The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood ''The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood'', released theatrically in the UK as ''Hollywood Blue'', is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Alan Roberts and starring Martine Beswick, Adam West, Phil Silvers, Chris Lemmon, Edie Adams, and Richard ...

'', released in 1980, portrayed by

Martine Beswick Martine Beswick (born 26 September 1941) is Jamaica-born British actress and model perhaps best known for her roles in two James Bond films, '' From Russia with Love'' (1963) and '' Thunderball'' (1965), who went on to appear in several other n ...

Hollander appears in at least two films: * ''My Pleasure Is My Business'', released in 1975 and directed by Al Waxman, as Gabrielle * ''Xaviera Hollander, the Happy Hooker: Portrait of a Sexual Revolutionary'', a documentary released in 2008 and directed, jointly produced, photographed and edited by Robert Dunlap. In addition, Hollander made additional writing contributions to the script. In 1989 she made an extended appearance on British television discussion programme '' After Dark'', alongside

Mary Stott Mary Stott (born Charlotte Mary Waddington) (18 July 1907 – 16 September 2002) was a British feminist and journalist. She was editor of ''The Guardian'' newspaper's women's page between 1957 and 1972.'' Charlotte Mary Waddington was born in Lei ...

, Malcolm Bennett and

Hans Eysenck Hans Jürgen Eysenck (; 4 March 1916 – 4 September 1997) was a German-born British psychologist who spent his professional career in Great Britain. He is best remembered for his work on intelligence and personality, although he worked on other ...

among others. A musical about her life was written and composed by Richard Hansom and Warren Wills. Also, Robert Dunlap released a documentary called ''Xaviera Hollander: Portrait of a Sexual Revolutionary''.

Books

Non-fiction

* Moore took Hollander's dictation, and Dunleavy transcribed the results. * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Fiction

* * * * Co-written with John Drummond: * * ''The Golden Phallus of Osiris Trilogy'': ** ** ** * Co-written with John Drummond: *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hollander, Xaviera 1943 births Living people 20th-century Dutch East Indies people 20th-century Dutch writers 21st-century Dutch writers 20th-century Dutch women writers 21st-century Dutch women writers Bisexual women Bisexual writers Dutch columnists Dutch erotica writers Dutch expatriates in Canada Dutch expatriates in South Africa Dutch expatriates in the United States Dutch memoirists Dutch people of French descent Dutch people of German descent Dutch people of Jewish descent Dutch brothel owners and madams Dutch prostitutes LGBT memoirists Dutch LGBT writers Penthouse (magazine) people People from Surabaya Prostitution in New York (state) Sex positivism Dutch sex columnists Dutch women columnists Women erotica writers Women memoirists World War II civilian prisoners held by Japan Writers from Amsterdam