Birdie was for many years the bookkeeper of The Shop Around the Corner , a famous children's bookstore on Manhattan's Upper West Side. She was a close friend of the store's founder, Cecilia Kelly, and continues to be close to Cecilia's daughter, author Kathleen Kelly. Birdie describes herself as very rich, having bought Intel stock at 6. She is rumored to have been romantically involved at one time with Generalisimo Francisco Franco (1892-1975), the Spanish dictator, but this has not been confirmed. She plays the piano.Note: Birdie's surname is listed as Conrad in publicity for YGM and other sources, but is never mentioned in the film itself, nor does it appear in the credits. It could be interpreted as a joke, since Conrad Birdie is the title character of Bye Bye Birdie.