I was listening to the phenomenal “Chicago” soundtrack over the last couple of days and I got to wondering. Was the original stage play from the 1920s remarkably prescient in predicting the rise of performers famous for being notorious or were there people from the time period with stories similar to Roxie’s although perhaps not as extreme? These days of course the cult of celebrity doesn’t much care about a criminal record but I’m wondering how far back that really goes. I’m not thinking of people like Al Capone or Dillinger. I’m wondering about people who committed or were suspected of crimes who parleyed their noteriety into a successful entertainment career. The earliest example off the top of my head I can think of is Liz Renay, who went to jail rather than rat out her mobster boyfriend and then went on the stage (and starred in John Waters’ film Desperate Living). Somebody like Mae West would not qualify IMHO although to stretch a point Texas Guinan might. So did Roxie Hart have any contemporaries? Any other examples y’all can think of from before the days of reality television?
Chicago is loosely based on true events, although the two real-life muderesses in question did not become a song-and-dance act:
Maurine Watkins’ original articles have been released as a book, which is well worth getting. The woman who inspired Roxie Hart, by the way, died a couple of years later in a sanitarium. I saw the silent Chicago at a revival house a few years ago, and it was terrific. Phyllis Haver would’ve won an Oscar, if those pesky talkies hadn’t swept them all. I wish someone would release it on video!
As far as the OP: criminals, victims, Wronged Women, etc., were doing lecture tours and writing books in England and France at least back to the 18th century, and probably long before that. “Famous for being famous” is a very old penom.