Lillian Russell

Beautiful, bold Lillian Russell was much more than a popular actress and singer of the Gay Nineties. Through energetic self-promotion, she practically invented celebrity, and her resulting influence was widely felt in society, fashion, and even politics. Russell's very public example even stretched the bounds of sexual relationships and morality in turn-of-the-century America. Here is the story of how a pretty church singer from the Midwest transformed herself into the highest paid and most visible entertainer of her time. Peopled with colorful characters and sparkling with anecdotes of the era, it is also a story of America - the flamboyance of its entertainments, the turmoil of its changing society, and the birth of its glorious musical theater.