kitty cartwright was just a well-built girl from a midwest town until she took her numerous talents to the people of paris, france. young, beautiful, brash and in possession of two glorious and oft revealed legs, she quickly became the darling of the cabaret scene, where adoring fans packed her performances and the press dubbed her "the iowa eyeful". she made calculated use of her legendary legs both on and off the stage in her meteoric rise to the top of the paris scene. those legs presumably brought about her equally spectacular downfall as an unexpected pregnancy brought her stage career to a standstill. but it was her insistence on naming the young english heartthrob charles bixby falls as the father that withered the media's good will and, with it, her chances for a comeback.
when ruby falls was born, her first breath of air should have been laced with the flavors of fine perfume and privilege. instead, born in the backroom of a paris ghetto cabaret, she inhaled the harsh fumes of greasepaint and misery, a taste she has never been able to wash completely from her mouth. scorned by her one-time friends and admirers, and bitter at the lack of effect the affair seemed to have on charles' career, kitty fled with young ruby back to the united states. ruby's earliest memories were of the weekly parade of "momma's special friends" and the monthly midnight ritual of sneaking down the back stairs of their apartment building, clutching their suitcases and wondering where they were going to sleep.
her childhood was not without its happy moments. her mother never gave up the stage and ruby grew to young womanhood in the company of singers, dancers, clowns and actors, many of whom treated her as a niece or kid sister. all the while ruby was watching and learning from some of the best, if unknown, talent america had to offer. by the age of six, ruby was singing bit parts in shows and within three years was a featured performer in her mother's troupe.
in a manner that became a theme in her life, ruby's childhood and whatever happiness it entailed was ended abruptly just before her thirteenth birthday. what started as a brief coughing fit for kitty after a sunday matinee, ended nine days later in an unmarked grave, leaving ruby to fend for her own. very little is know of the next four years of ruby's life and those wishing to remain in her good graces today know not to ask. what is beyond all doubt is that on the night of 13 november, on the stage of the belle étoile in paris, france, an unknown singer from america brought the house down and young ruby falls became forever more "le bijou de paris".
leveraging her new-found fame and ever cognizant of her mother's tragic fall from grace, ruby climbed the ladder of parisian society with a seemingly effortless flair that disguised her often brutal determination. each human rung she used and abandoned in her climb to the top was left not with pangs from her stiletto heals in his or her back but rather fond memories of pleasure, passion and excitement. in fact, many of her greatest fans and supporters were the men and women she so openly used in her ascension.
not content to claim merely one city as her own, ruby traveled about europe, seducing the public and the press and laying beautiful waste to the hearts and wallets of the continent's most famous denizens. however, despite her multi-country success, ruby felt truly at home in two very different cities. said the parisian weekly la bonne vie, "europe claims ruby falls as her daughter but ruby claims paris as her mother." in direct response, the famous berlin art rag die trommel trumpeted, "paris is her mother but berlin is her lover!"
ruby is still drawn between the spirits of these two cities, where she explores different themes in her art and her personal life. she was once quoted as saying, "when you look at me, you see the bright fair lights of paris but in my veins beats the dark pulse of berlin." her mannerisms, clothes, tastes and, above all, her music reflect this dichotomy to this day.