Georgia Holt

Actress, model, and sometimes singer and songwriter Georgia Holt's life reads like a Hollywood movie script. The mother of iconic singer and actress Cher and the actress Georganne LaPiere, Holt was born Jackie Jean Crouch on June 9, 1927 in Sharp County, Arkansas to a teenaged mother and an alcoholic father. She endured abandonment, poverty, and even a murder attempt by her father (although he did teach her how to play guitar) as she was growing up, taking refuge in singing, dancing, and performing. She sang on an Oklahoma radio station when she was six years old, sang and appeared on-stage with Bob Wills when she was ten, won several talent and beauty competitions, and eventually her talent, looks, and drive took her all the way to Hollywood, where she worked as an actress and model, appearing on numerous television shows, including I Love Lucy and Ozzie and Harriet. She also married eight times (twice each to two of the men), and along the way gave birth to her two daughters, Cher in 1946 and Georganne in 1951. She found time to record an album, Honky Tonk Woman, in 1980, which included a duet with Cher and also featured members of Elvis Presley's band, but the album was never released and the master tapes ended up in Holt's garage. Rediscovered years later, and sweetened a bit by Cher's musical director, Honky Tonk Woman was finally officially released on CD Baby in the spring of 2013.