Famous Biography

Famous Biography research has shown that Lola Montez had black hair and blue eyes. This is borne out by the original painting of her in the ‘Gallery of Beauties’ in Nymphenburg Castle, Munich.

These paintings were commissioned by King Ludwig I and represent beautiful women he knew but only a few became his lovers. Lola was one of those of course and the most well known today. In the YouTube video ” Joseph Karl Stieler Schönheitengalerie” Lola Montez is shown with red hair for some unknown reason. This is incorrect and her true likeness is as portrayed on the cover of ‘Lola Montez A Life” by Bruce Seymour which you can see on this site at present in the top left corner.

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I said in a recent discussion that it’s the content which matters but is that true today? We have the situation in which bookshops are trying to keep afloat and the books they display prominently are those which will bring them the most revenue. This means the ones from publishers who give them a regular extra discount for putting their books on display in the window and/or inside and promote them in the press etc. It doesn’t matter if they are chick-lit, non-fiction or fiction masquerading as truth. So long as it sells, it’s manna from heaven.

At a recent meeting in Dublin, I heard that 9 in 10 of ‘celeb’ books fail but the 10th hits the big time and pays for the others. What does that say for content? At Famous Biography, we’d like to think that content is king and that books like our ‘Virtue and Vice’ will prove the point. There is no doubt that in Catherine Hayes and Lola Montez, we have great characters to work with.

Please comment.

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Lola Montez travelled to Seville in Spain to learn dancing. She adapted flamenco to create her famous ‘Spider Dance” which she performed all over the world. Basically, it was a form of striptease in which she found rubber spiders in her clothes and threw them on the stage. Then she started to strip off layers of her clothing until she was topless and sometimes nude for a private show.

The video of the Spider Dance on this site now is not representative of Lola’s performance. It wouldn’t have attracted audiences even in the conservative 19th century. Lola’s dance was more like the ‘dance of the seven veils‘ which Salome did for Herod in return for the head of John the Baptist.

Lola’s 19c audiences loved it because they rarely saw women nude. Some men never saw their wives undressed so you can imagine she had quite an effect. The fact that she was a well educated and titled lady helped to give it a unique appeal after 1848.

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This was part of a program at the Autry Museum of Western History in 1998. Athene Mihalakis performs her interpretation of Lola Montez’s notorious Spider Dance. The little things she is stomping on are spiders. Piano: Dean Mora. Video shot by David Gerard and edited by Walter Nelson. http://walternelson.com

Duration : 0:3:35

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