The Queens of Burlesque: Vintage Photographs from the 1940s and 1950s

by Len Rothe

For the first time, stunning images of the women of the burlesque stage are gathered together in one great volume. In period photographs the timeless beauty of those exotic women who titillated, teased, and sometimes tortured their audiences is captured and celebrated. These memorable images make it clear that, when it comes to a beautiful body and a gorgeous face, tastes change very little. And just as in the past, the imagination is encouraged to run wild and ponder what might have been. This is a book to relax with and enjoy over and over again. Its rich, nostalgic view of a bygone era in American entertainment will please everyone, men and women alike. A "revealing" piece of Americana!

Genres: Nonfiction, Photography, Art

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 1998

Reviews

[Dfordoom · Rating 4 out of 5]

No text, just pictures. But the pictures are great.

[Brett Lambert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The life of a showgirl circa 1940s/50s. This is literally just a picture book with a short introduction so there aren’t very many words to read but the pictures are great.

Most of the burlesque stars are unknown (to me), but it does feature Lili St. Cyr and Tempest Storm who are fairly well known since they appeared in stripteaser films with Bettie Page back in the day.

For posterity, the following burlesque dancers featured in the book are:

Za-Ze Amour (“The Bouncing Parisian”)
Ann “Bang Bang” Arbor
Nejla Ates (“The Exquisite Turkish Delight”)
Bonnie Bell
Bonnie Boya
Sherry Britton
Bobbie Bruce (“The Barroness Bon Bon”)
The Comet
Lorraine Cooper
Dagmar
Yvette Dare
Bubbles Darlene (“America’s Most Exciting Body”)
Dirian Dennis
Princess Do May (“The Cherokee Half-Breed”)
Lotus DuBois (“The Parisian Un-Cover Girl”)
Marcia Eddington
Sen Lee Fu (“The Most Exotic Dancer Of Them All”)
Blaze Fury (“The Human Heatwave”)
Helena Gardner (“The Bewitching Beauty”)
Winnie Garrett (“The Flaming Redhead”)
Gilda (“Hollywood’s Golden Goddess”)
Rita Grable (“Gorgeous Blonde Stocking Model”)
Betty Howard (“The Girl With the Big Beautiful Blue Eyes”)
Pat “Amber” Halladay
Kay Hanna (“America’s Most Gorgeous Blonde”)
Jill Huntley (“Miss Dean of Tease”)
Irene (“Towering Blonde Beauty”)
J’Aimee
Mickey Jones
Lili LaMont (“The Academy Award Winner”)
Tana Louise (“The Heat Wave”)
Lorelei (“The Girl in the Oyster Shell”)
Helen Lovett
Jan Mavis (“The Sunshine Girl”)
Scarlett O’Hara (“The Exciting Lassie with the Classy Chassis”)
Penny Page (“The S-E-X Girl”)
Valerie Parks (“Your Favorite Blonde Striptease”)
Ann Perri (“The Parisian Jane Russell”)
Pepper Powell (“Torrid Titian Haired Tantalizer”)
Jean Richey (“Queen of the Rollers”)
Countess Ruhkova
Sequin (“Beauty to the 4th Dimension”)
Siri (“Dutch Doll”)
Sonia (“The Sultry Sophisticate”)
Crystal Starr (“More Bounce to the Ounce”)
Lisa Starr
Lily St Cyr
Tempest Storm
Robin Sweet (“The Newest Body in Burlesque”)
Tequila
Val de Val
Vallkyra (“Toast of the Coast”)
Trudy Wayne
Evelyn West
Zorita

[Sammi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeous coffee table book filled with black and white photos of burlesque’s elite.

[Luna · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the oldest books in my 'to-read' list and I finally managed to track it down.

A collection of beautiful photographs of burlesque queens of yore.

[Jeanne T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice photos. Bad narrative.

[Spaceykc037 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Photos A+
Narrative skipped class

[Nicoll Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Burlesque in Pictures only. There is little content on the art form itself