A Laber cousin was a tall bombshell –
slender, blonde and blue eyes and yes, she was 100% Jewish! They say all heads
would turn when she would walk down the street. She joined burlesque and became
a dancer, and it’s believed that she was actually a stripper (even though no
one wanted to admit it). Her close friend was Gypsy
Rose Lee.
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| Gypsy Rose Lee |
It was during this
time that she was friends with Gypsy Rose Lee that Millie changed her name to “Billie”.
“Billie” was quite flamboyant and glamorous and it’s believed that “Billie” had
more stage presence. The owner of the burlesque house, d Max Rudnick fell in
love with her. He realized he was quite a bit older than she, and couldn't
really keep up but he was crazy about her, so he turned his back to a lot of
her partying. He used to say, "Let the kid have some fun."
After Max's death,
she was left a wealthy young widow, but unfortunately, she got involved with a
string of wrong men. After
the death of her second husband, Billie resided in Miami Beach at a suite in
the very prestigious Fontainebleau
Hotel. While she was living there, she got involved with a guy who had been
a friend or her cousin. Apparently this new man had arranged a heist in
her suite
upstairs while he and Billie were having dinner in the hotel. She lost all her
furs, diamonds, and a great deal of money that she kept hidden away upstairs.
After that, she was never the same. She moved to Las Vegas and went to
work at Caesar's Palace.
The really tragic
thing in her life was that she died without her son in her life. She must have
been ill for some time since she had carcinoma of the lungs. She died in a
hospital back where she lived for many years and her sister still lived.
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