Josephine Baker (1906–75)
African-American dancer and singer of consummate ability. Born in St Louis, Missouri, she was talent-spotted in New York and in 1925 she sailed to France to perform with other black artistes in La Revue Nègre. Josephine’s talent and personality shone in Paris, her adopted city.
Tallulah Bankhead (1902–68)
American-born actress of original and startling talent, whose stage career on both sides of the Atlantic gained considerable acclaim, but whose everyday behaviour was outrageous. She benefited from the symbiotic nature of British and American showbusiness and society in the 1920s.
Victoria Drummond, MBE (1894–1978)
Named after her godmother, Queen Victoria, she was a pioneering woman seafarer, who served as a ship’s engineer during the Second World War.
Thelma Furness (1904–70)
A twice-divorced American banking heiress and frequent transatlantic traveller, who often accompanied by her twin sister Gloria Vanderbilt, Thelma was the long-standing mistress of the Prince of Wales.
Martha Gellhorn (1908–98)
American-born writer and war correspondent with a sixty-year career and survivor of a marriage to Ernest Hemingway.
Hilda James (1904–82)
Olympic swimming champion from Liverpool who was employed by Cunard, first as a swimming coach and later as a social hostess.
Violet Jessop (1887–1971)
To support her family, naïve and unworldly Violet went to sea as a transatlantic stewardess aged twenty-one, and rapidly learned a great deal about human nature.
Nin Kilburn
Born into a Liverpool sea-going family, Nin lost a sister who was working on the Lusitania when it was sunk in 1915. Unable to find work as a schoolteacher in the 1930s, Nin went to sea, and achieved rapid promotion.
Hedy Lamarr (1914–2000)
Viennese-born actress who escaped a repressive marriage to a pro-Nazi Austrian arms dealer, and secured herself a future as a Hollywood star during a transatlantic voyage.
Mary Anne MacLeod (1912–2000)
The youngest child of ten born to a Scottish crofter, Mary Anne escaped her impoverished and depressed home island of Lewis by buying a one-way third-class ticket on a ship sailing to New York, seeking work as a domestic servant.
Maida Nixson (b?–1954)
Former journalist, writer, bank clerk and soft toy designer who became a stewardess in 1937 out of desperation and, to her surprise, loved the job. Her highly readable and enjoyable book, Ring Twice for the Stewardess, was published in the same year as her death.
Marie Riffelmacher
Fifteen years old in 1923, Marie was an economic migrant from Altenberg who escaped the turmoil of 1920s post-war Germany by embarking on a ship for America.
Edith Sowerbutts (1896–1992)
A much travelled and feisty character who enjoyed being a conductress caring for unaccompanied women and children on the North Atlantic route between 1925 and 1931. She later became a stewardess for Cunard/White Star Line.