Reputations Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday was a jazz diva who became the stereotypical victim unlucky in life, unlucky in love and dead from drink and drugs at the age of only 44. Reputations reexamines Billie Holiday s life and career. Was life hard on Billie, or was she always a tragedy waiting to happen Holiday was born in Baltimore in 1915, the illegitimate daughter of a 16yearold jazz musician and an 18yearold cleaner. She was raped by a neighbour at the age of 11, and began work as a prostitute in Harlem at the age of 1 br, br,