CHAPTER FOUR “LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME”: THE TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDIES OF BILLIE HOLIDAY “Her voice is full of money” Francis Scott Fitzgerald, “The Great Gatsby”, 1925 I What was there so interesting about Billie Holiday’s birth chart or life that it warranted a closer look? To begin with, the details shown on her birth certificate were wrong in fact. The error did not concern her date or hour of birth. These details were accurate so any aspiring astrologer or biographer did not need to fret unduly over this point. It was the name of her father that was incorrect. The father’s name shown on that piece of paper was not her biological father. Her real father abandoned his family shortly before she was born. She was brought up by a single parent, her mother. But the mother needed someone’s name to fill in the blank space for the father. She …show more content…
The father’s name shown on her birth certificate was Frank De Viese. Researchers have since discovered that the biological father, Clarence Holiday, abandoned the family shortly before the birth of his daughter. Frank was probably a friend of the family and out of sympathy, lent his name to be recorded on the birth certificate. Frank was then aged about 20 and worked as a waiter. Sara Harris worked at transportation jobs which was a contract between a white employer and a black servant from the South. 1920 5 On 20 October 1920, Sara Harris, better known as Sadie Harris, married Philip Gough, a longshoreman. Her father, Charlie Fagan, provided lodgings for the newly-weds at his place, 1421 North Freemont Avenue, West Baltimore. 1922 7 On 16 October 1922, Clarence Holiday married Helen Boudin, who was then about 18 years old. Clarence was working as an elevator boy to pay for his music lessons. He met Fanny in Philadelphia and she eventually became his second