Of Russian-Jewish origin, Polly was the eldest of nine children of Gertrude Koval and Morris Adler, a tailor who travelled throughout Europe on business. Her early education was from the village rabbi. Polly Adler emigrated to America from Yanow, Russia, near the Polish border at the age of 12, just before World War I. The war stopped her family from joining her. She lived for a time with family friends in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where she cleaned house and attended school and, at age 14, began working in the local paper mill; the following year she moved to Brooklyn, living for a time with cousins. She worked as a seamstress, at clothing factories, and sporadically attended school. At 19, she began to enjoy the company of theater people in Manhattan, and moved into the apartment of an actress and showgirl on Riverside Drive in New York City. It was at this apartment that she was introduced to a local bootlegger and gangster, who offered to pay Adler if she would allow him and his girlfriend to use her apartment. She began to procure for him and his friends, and became successful as a madam.
Bordello owner
She opened her first bordello in 1920, under the protection of mobsterDutch Schultz and a friend of mobster Charles "Lucky" Luciano. One building in which she plied her trade was The Majestic at 215 West 75th Street, designed by architects Schwartz and Gross and completed in 1924 which contained hidden stairways and secret doorways. Her brothel's patrons included Peter Arno, Harold Ross, Desi Arnaz, George S. Kaufman, Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker, Milton Berle, John Garfield, New York City mayorJimmy Walker, and mobster Dutch Schultz. It has been theorized that the New York State Supreme Court justice Joseph Force Crater, missing since Aug. 6, 1930, died in Polly Adler's brothel. Adler was a shrewd businesswoman with a mind for marketing. She determined that gaining publicity would be to her advantage, and she cultivated newspaper coverage by dressing flamboyantly, making grand appearances at nightclubs, and drawing attention to her beautiful employees. She also made large bribes to city and law enforcement officials to keep her business open. In the early 1930s, Adler was a star witness of the Seabury Commission investigations and spent a few months in hiding in Florida to avoid testifying. She refused to give up any mob names when apprehended by the police. She survived by providing half of her income to her underworld safety net, and closed her business. She retired in 1944. Adler attended college at age 50, and wrote a bestselling book, ghost written by Virginia Faulkner, A House Is Not a Home, allowing her to live off the proceeds. She died in Los Angeles in 1962. A House Is Not a Home was made into a movie two years later, starring Shelley Winters as Adler. Her notoriety led her to be included in Cleveland Amory's 1959 Celebrity Register.
Trials
Spring 1935
During Fiorello La Guardia's time as a mayor, Polly Adler and three of her girls were brought to court. She pleaded guilty and was subsequently sentenced to 30 days in jail and paid an additional $500 fine. "A plea of guilty was entered for Polly Adler in Special Sessions yesterday to a charge of possessing a 'motion picture machine with objectionable pictures' in her East Fifty-fifth Street apartment when it was raided by the police last March 5." "Another unexpected plea of guilty to maintaining an objectionable apartment at 30 East Fifty-fifth Street blocked in Special Sessions yesterday the trial of Polly Adler on that and another charge that she kept an 'obscene motion picture film' in the suite last March when it was raided."
January 1943
"Polly Adler is in the prison ward of Bellevue Hospital, it became known yesterday, awaiting a hearing for the seventeenth time for maintaining a house of prostitution."— "A charge of keeping and maintaining a house for prostitution against Pearl Davis, better known as Polly Adler, was dismissed by Magistrate Thomas H. Cullen in Woman's Court yesterday after the court ruled that police had failed to establish a case."—
Autobiography
Editions
Translations
Polly Adler: , Lichtenberg Verlag, München, 1965
Television and film portrayals
portrayed Adler in the 1964 film version of Adler's book. The 1989 Perry Mason TV-movie Musical Murder revolved around a faux-musical based on Adler. Adler was portrayed by the actress Gisèle Rousseau in the 1994 film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. The television showM*A*S*H episode "Bulletin Board" features a party/picnic called the "First Annual Polly Adler Birthday Cook-out Picnic and Bar-B-Que", with all proceeds going to Sr. Teresa's Orphanage. The picnic scene climaxes with a tug of war between the officers and enlisted men; in the episode "Goodbye, Cruel World", Colonel Potter asks "Why does my company clerk's office look like Polly Adler's parlor?" after Corporal Klinger does some redecorating with items sent from home.
Death
After 25 years working as a Madam, Adler died of cancer in Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, California. At 62 years old, she left her mother and brother behind, as well as rumors of an unfinished sequel to her book.
