Juliet Anne Prowse (September 25, 1936 – September 14, 1996) was a dancer, whose four-decade career included stage, television and film. She was raised in South Africa, where her family emigrated after World War II.
Prowse was born in Bombay, British India to South African parents and reared in South Africa. She began studying dance at the age of four. In her early twenties, she was dancing at a club in Paris when she was spotted by a talent agent and eventually signed to play the role of "Claudine" in the Walter Lang film Can-Can (1960). She had already missed a few opportunities to go to Hollywood because she was under contract but eventually left a show in Spain in which she was starring to travel to the United States for this film.
It was during the filming of Can-Can in 1959 that she captured the international spotlight. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev visited the set of the film and after Prowse performed a rather saucy can-can for the Russian leader, he proclaimed her dance "immoral." The publicity brought Prowse considerable attention in the United States. From there, her career accelerated.