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Billie Holiday

Billie HolidayAKA Elinore Harris

Born: 7-Apr-1915
Birthplace: Philadelphia, PA [1]
Died: 17-Jul-1959
Location of death: New York City
Cause of death: Cirrhosis of the Liver
Remains: Buried, St. Raymond's Cemetery, Bronx, NY

Gender: Female
Religion: Roman Catholic
Race or Ethnicity: Black
Sexual orientation: Bisexual
Occupation: Singer

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Lady Sings the Blues


[1] Born in Philadelphia, per birth certificate. Sources vary as to Baltimore or Philadelphia, with even some book-length biographies listing the wrong city. Furthermore, Billie's birth certificate has the name "Elinore Harris" and not "Elinore Fagan" on it, though her maternal grandfather's last name is Fagan (not Pagan) and her mother did adopt that last name later. Billie's parents were unmarried.

Father: Clarence Holiday
Mother: Sadie Harris (later "Sadie Fagan")
Boyfriend:
Orson Welles (actor/film director)
Girlfriend: Tallulah Bankhead (actress)
Boyfriend: John Levy
Husband: Jimmy Monroe (m. 25-Aug-1941, div. 1957)
Boyfriend: Joe Guy (common law husband, separated 1957)
Husband: Louis McKay (m. 28-Mar-1957, until her death)

    Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2000 (pioneer)
    Hollywood Walk of Fame 1540 N. Vine St. (recording)
    unknown detox facility 1947
    Raped 1926
    Prostitution Harlem, NY 1929
    Drug Possession: Heroin 1947
    Inmate: Alderson Federal Prison Camp (1947-48)
    Drug Possession: Heroin San Francisco, CA 22-Jan-1949, acquitted
    Drug Paraphernalia Possession San Francisco, CA 22-Jan-1949, acquitted
    Drug Possession 1951
    Drug Possession 1956
    Drug Possession 1959
    Died Intestate
    Risk Factors: Depression, Smoking, Alcoholism, Marijuana, Opium, Heroin

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    New Orleans (18-Apr-1947)


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