Holly Golightly is a Callgirl

In response to a new West End, London production of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which portrays iconic Holly Golightly as a prostitute, straight up and unambiguously, Book Bench has posted part of a 1968 Playboy interview with Truman Capote on the subject.

Capote: Holly Golightly was not precisely a callgirl. She had no job, but accompanied expense-account men to the best restaurants and night clubs, with the understanding that her escort was obligated to give her some sort of gift, perhaps jewelry or a check … if she felt like it, she might take her escort home for the night. So these girls are the authentic American geishas, and they’re much more prevalent now than in 1943 or 1944, which was Holly’s era.

It seems to me Golightly’s status was always just how Capote explained it.  Whether or not she was a prostitute comes down more to a question of personal definition (as so many things do) than a definitive “yes” or “no.”  Honestly I never loved the movie, despite that as a girl I adored Audrey Hepburn (as so many of us did).

In the interview, Capote also addresses, naturally, the question of Golightly’s sexuality. (She was not a “Lesbian,” if you were wondering.)