Bella Otero

In 1888, Otero found a sponsor in Barcelona who helped her move to Marseilles to further her dancing career in France. She soon left him and created the character of La Belle Otero, presenting herself as an Andalusian Romani woman. Her captivating dark eyes, as described by contemporaries, were so intense that they were impossible to ignore. She rose to stardom at the Folies Bergère in Paris, where one of her famous costumes featured her bosom partially covered with glued-on precious gems. Legend has it that the twin cupolas of the Carlton Hotel in Cannes, built in 1912, were modeled on her breasts. Within a few years, she was considered one of the most sought-after women in Europe, serving as a courtesan to wealthy and powerful men, including Kaiser Wilhelm II, Prince Albert I of Monaco, King Edward VII, and King Alfonso XIII of Spain. Her love affairs made her notorious, and while unsubstantiated reports claim six men committed suicide over her, it is documented that two men fought a duel over her.

In 1898, a French film operator shot a one-minute reel of Otero performing the Valse Brillante in St. Petersburg. The screening caused a scandal and led to the operator's expulsion from Russia. After World War I, Otero retired, having amassed a fortune of about US$25 million, but she gambled much of it away over the years, frequenting Monte Carlo casinos. She spent her final years in poverty, living in a one-room apartment at the Hotel Novelty in Nice, where she died of a heart attack on 10 April 1965, at age 96.