Presenting Pauline

Presenting Pauline, as told to biographer Louise Brass, is the story of one young woman's courage as she witnessed her world slipping into a very dangerous era. Pauline Fraser set out to be a tap dancer on the London stage, never dreaming that she would rub shoulders with some of the greatest military leaders of World War II, and many of Hollywood's most brilliant stars. Most of all, Pauline never imagined that as a young review artist she would be tracking spies through the terrifying dark nights of the London Blitz. Being a real trooper, she always kept her sense of humor. She never lost faith that she would survive, even as the city was crumbling around her!

Pauline recalls running through the streets as Nazi bombers hit their targets, and concrete and glass came crashing to the ground. Even more unnerving, she was required to do her bit for the war effort by serving on a nighttime firewatcher team on a theater roof, while the Luftwaffe tried to devastate the capital city.

In 1945, Pauline was swept off her feet by a handsome U.S. Army Air Force officer, and she came to the United States on the first war brides' ship following WWII. The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, through an unrelenting storm, was almost as dangerous as living through the Blitz. But again, the gutsy young lady survived. The newlyweds lived first in Chicago, where Pauline founded a neighborhood dance school. They later settled in Naperville, Illinois, where she directed and produced successful community theater group musical shows.