Lili St. Cyr(1918-1999)
- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Buxom, highly painted blonde Lili St. Cyr was a notorious striptease
artist of the 1940s and 1950s who replaced
Gypsy Rose Lee and
Ann Corio on the burlesque queen pedestal.
Lili actually took the stripper out of burlesque and put her squarely
on the Las Vegas stage. She was also noted for her pin-up photography,
especially for photos taken by Bernard of Hollywood. She was married
and divorced six times, including small-time actors
Paul Valentine and
Ted Jordan and well-known restaurateur
Armando Orsini.
Born Willis Marie Van Schaack on June 3, 1918, the
Minneapolis-born entertainer's early life remains somewhat of a
mystery. She was raised by her grandparents and had two sisters that
went into show biz. Trained in ballet, Lili started out as a chorine at
such notable places as the Florentine Gardens. She went on to develop
and choreograph her own solo act while featuring herself in the nude.
Lili's bare-all debut, at the Music Box, proved disastrous, so she put
together a new act.
Lili first became famous performing at the Gaiety
Theater in Montreal in 1944. Her club acts quickly became the talk of
the town as she would be seen taking a bath on stage or doing the
reverse strip. One famous gimmick involved having her G-string, which
was attached to a fishing rod, fly off into the balcony as the lights
dimmed. This gimmick was known as the "Flying G," and other such
novelty bits of business became trademarks as well. She
eventually conquered Las Vegas, and it was there that she created her
"bubble bath" bit on stage while being dressed by a maid for the crowd.
Her notoriety eventually extended outside the U.S.; she was especially
well received in Montreal.
While Lili was featured in a couple of
mainstream acting roles in movies, including
The Miami Story (1954) and
The Naked and the Dead (1958),
she usually played a stripper or appeared as herself. Some short
soft-core films which featured her dancing are more interesting today,
such as the Irving Klaw film
Varietease (1954).
Lili's private life
was a feast for the tabloids: six marriages, highly publicized brawls,
and attempted suicides. She eventually tired of it all and retreated,
starting up a Frederick's of Hollywood-like lingerie business. Her last
decades were spent in virtual seclusion until her death on January 29,
1999.
artist of the 1940s and 1950s who replaced
Gypsy Rose Lee and
Ann Corio on the burlesque queen pedestal.
Lili actually took the stripper out of burlesque and put her squarely
on the Las Vegas stage. She was also noted for her pin-up photography,
especially for photos taken by Bernard of Hollywood. She was married
and divorced six times, including small-time actors
Paul Valentine and
Ted Jordan and well-known restaurateur
Armando Orsini.
Born Willis Marie Van Schaack on June 3, 1918, the
Minneapolis-born entertainer's early life remains somewhat of a
mystery. She was raised by her grandparents and had two sisters that
went into show biz. Trained in ballet, Lili started out as a chorine at
such notable places as the Florentine Gardens. She went on to develop
and choreograph her own solo act while featuring herself in the nude.
Lili's bare-all debut, at the Music Box, proved disastrous, so she put
together a new act.
Lili first became famous performing at the Gaiety
Theater in Montreal in 1944. Her club acts quickly became the talk of
the town as she would be seen taking a bath on stage or doing the
reverse strip. One famous gimmick involved having her G-string, which
was attached to a fishing rod, fly off into the balcony as the lights
dimmed. This gimmick was known as the "Flying G," and other such
novelty bits of business became trademarks as well. She
eventually conquered Las Vegas, and it was there that she created her
"bubble bath" bit on stage while being dressed by a maid for the crowd.
Her notoriety eventually extended outside the U.S.; she was especially
well received in Montreal.
While Lili was featured in a couple of
mainstream acting roles in movies, including
The Miami Story (1954) and
The Naked and the Dead (1958),
she usually played a stripper or appeared as herself. Some short
soft-core films which featured her dancing are more interesting today,
such as the Irving Klaw film
Varietease (1954).
Lili's private life
was a feast for the tabloids: six marriages, highly publicized brawls,
and attempted suicides. She eventually tired of it all and retreated,
starting up a Frederick's of Hollywood-like lingerie business. Her last
decades were spent in virtual seclusion until her death on January 29,
1999.