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# Betty Rowland
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/communityprofiles-betty-rowland/
- Published: 2007-04-23T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:37:11.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: Business, Downtown, #archive-import

*The next chapter for Rowland*

DOWNTOWN Goodness gracious, a “great ball of fire.”

That was her much-deserved moniker during her days as one of burlesque’s biggest stars and it still fits today, more than 60 years later, for Betty Rowland continues to shine brightly, her spirit as fiery as her flaming red hair and sparkling red and blue eye lashes.

At 91, Rowland still serves as a bartender at the downtown Santa Monica nightclub she owned for more than a decade. She is also a star in a feature-length documentary about her dancing days, “Pretty Things,” and is anxiously awaiting the release of her second collection of poetry. She’s just as busy as ever these days and has no plans of taking five.

“The best thing about it all is that I can stay dressed. In that business \[burlesque\], it seemed like I was always dressing,” Rowland said with a smile last week as she stood behind the bar at Lounge 217, formerly Mr. B’s, a popular watering hole that the Blackburn family left to Rowland more than 12 years ago. She now has two young partners who have taken over much of the business, but she never misses her morning shifts.

“I used to write poetry and other things in between \[burlesque\] shows,”

Rowland. “I like it, but I don’t think it’s going to be a career. It’s certainly a hobby and something to keep me occupied and put my mind to work, but this is where I spend most of my time. I like it because it’s kind of still show business.”

Looking back, Rowland has many fond memories of her days on stage, when she was known as “Betty Rowland: Burlesque’s Ball of Fire,” (she once sued legendary producer Samuel Goldwyn for using “Ball of Fire” as a title for Howard Hawks’ picture starring Gary Cooper). She performed in New York and Los Angeles, traveled to France and

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 23, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/042307.pdf?ref=smdp.com)