World's Oldest Showgirl Dies

Posted December 26, 2007, 10:31 am in Theater by Growing Bolder


As a young girl, Beverly Allen knew she wanted to spend her life dancing. But even she never realized just how long that would be. She passed away Sunday in Tarzana, California, at the age of 90. Just three years before, she was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest showgirl regularly performing in a chorus.

She was born Nov. 4, 1917 in Chicago, where she studied dance with the Merriel Abbott Dancers, who performed at the famed Empire Room of the Palmer House Hotel. During World War II, she joined the USO and entertained troops in Europe. She spent many years as a dance teacher but everything changed once she hit the age of 80. It was then she decided it was time to get back on stage.

She joined the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies, a chorus show for women 55 and up and quickly became a headliner once again! She was known for cartwheeling across the stage at the age of 82 and flinging herself from the arms of one male dancer to another with passion and abandon.

She was proof that with a little luck, you never have to give up the things you love to do the most. Many communities have chorus groups for people over the age of 55. Growing Bolder was there as the curtain raised for a recent performance by the Fab Follies in Sanford, Florida.

Click here to watch the Fab Follies in action.


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