Blaze Starr
Encyclopedia
- The phrase "Blaze Star" was sometimes used for the recurring nova T Coronae BorealisT Coronae BorealisT Coronae Borealis , informally nicknamed the Blaze Star, is a recurring nova in the constellation Corona Borealis. It normally has a magnitude of about 10, which is near the limit of typical binoculars. It has been seen to outburst twice, reaching magnitude 2.0 on May 12, 1866 and magnitude 3.0...
Blaze Starr (born Fannie Belle Fleming, January 1, 1932) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
former stripper
Stripper
A stripper is a professional erotic dancer who performs a contemporary form of striptease at strip club establishments, public exhibitions, and private engagements. Unlike in burlesque, the performer in the modern Americanized form of stripping minimizes the interaction of customer and dancer,...
and American burlesque
American burlesque
American Burlesque is a genre of variety show. Derived from elements of Victorian burlesque, music hall and minstrel shows, burlesque shows in America became popular in the 1860s and evolved to feature ribald comedy and female striptease...
star. Her vivacious presence and inventive use of stage props
Theatrical property
A theatrical property, commonly referred to as a prop, is an object used on stage by actors to further the plot or story line of a theatrical production. Smaller props are referred to as "hand props". Larger props may also be set decoration, such as a chair or table. The difference between a set...
earned her the nickname "The Hottest Blaze in Burlesque". She was also known for her affair with Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
Earl Long
Earl Long
Earl Kemp Long was an American politician and the 45th Governor of Louisiana for three non-consecutive terms. Long termed himself the "last of the red hot poppas" of politics, referring to his stump-speaking skills...
.
Early life
Starr was born in rural Wilsondale, West VirginiaWilsondale, West Virginia
Wilsondale is an unincorporated community located in southern Wayne County, West Virginia, United States. Wilsondale has a post office with ZIP code 25699; as of the 2000 Census, the population of this ZIP Code Tabulation Area was 74. It is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan...
, to Lora Evans and Goodlow Mullins (later changed to Fleming). Fleming left home at age fifteen in 1947, and moved to Washington D.C. where Red Snyder discovered her either working in a doughnut shop (according to her autobiography) or as a hat check girl
Cloakroom
A cloakroom, or sometimes coatroom, is a room for people to hang their cloaks. They are typically found inside large buildings, such as gymnasiums, schools, churches or meeting halls....
(according to other sources).
Snyder became Fleming's first manager, encouraged her to start stripping, and gave her the stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
Blaze Starr. After he attempted to rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
her, however, Starr left Snyder.
Starr moved to Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
where she began performing at the Two O'Clock Club nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
in 1950, eventually becoming its headliner. Starr rose to national renown after she was profiled in a February 1954 Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
magazine article, "B-Belles of Burlesque: You Get Strip Tease With Your Beer in Baltimore". The Two O'Clock Club remained her home base, but she began to travel and perform in clubs throughout the country.
Career
Starr's striking red hair, voluptuous figure and on-stage enthusiasm were a large part of her appeal. The theatrical flourishes and unique gimmicks she used in her stage show went beyond established burlesque routines like the fan danceFan dance
A fan dance is a dance performed with one or more fans. This form has been adapted in various countries. The Korean fan dance, for example, evolved from Joseon Dynasty court dances and remains a popular form of traditional Korean dance. The Spanish or Portuguese flamenco makes dramatic use of fans...
and balloon dance.
Perhaps her most famous prop was a couch that she rigged to smolder and then appear to burst into flame as she sat on it and undressed.
Relationship with Earl Long
In the late 1950s, while working at the Sho-Bar on Bourbon StreetBourbon Street
Bourbon Street is a famous and historic street that spans the length of the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana. When founded in 1718, the city was originally centered around the French Quarter...
in New Orleans, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, Starr began a long-term affair with then-governor Earl Long
Earl Long
Earl Kemp Long was an American politician and the 45th Governor of Louisiana for three non-consecutive terms. Long termed himself the "last of the red hot poppas" of politics, referring to his stump-speaking skills...
. Starr was in the process of divorcing her husband, club owner Carroll Glorioso, and Long was married to the state's first lady, known colloquially as Miz Blanche
Blanche Long
Blanche Beulah Revere Long was the first lady of Louisiana from 1939–1940, 1948–1952, and 1956-1960. She was also a "partner in power" to her husband, Governor Earl Kemp Long. From 1956-1963, she was the Democratic national committeewoman from Louisiana...
. Starr and Long's relationship, invoked as one reason for Long being involuntarily committed to a mental hospital, lasted until his death in 1960. In his will, Long left her $50,000, which she refused to accept.
Media appearances
Two of Starr's performances, including the combustible sofa, are among the burlesque routines featured in the 1956 compilation film Buxom Beautease, produced and directed by Irving KlawIrving Klaw
Irving Klaw was an American photographer and filmmaker.Klaw is best-known for operating a mail-order business selling photographs and film of attractive women from the 1940s to the 1960s...
.
Director Doris Wishman
Doris Wishman
Doris Wishman was an American film director, screenwriter and independent film producer....
's 1962 film Blaze Starr Goes Nudist
Blaze Starr Goes Nudist
Blaze Starr Goes Nudist is an American 1962 nudist film, produced and directed by Doris Wishman. The film featured legendary burlesque queen Blaze Starr...
, a nudie-sexploitation
Sexploitation
Sexploitation, or "sex-exploitation", describes a class of independently produced, low-budget feature films generally associated with the 1960s and serving largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit sexual situations and gratuitous nudity. The genre is a subgenre of exploitation films...
film, features Starr's one lead movie role. As the title suggests, she plays herself. The film is also known as Blaze Starr Goes Back to Nature, Blaze Starr Goes Wild, Blaze Starr the Original, and Busting Out.
Diane Arbus
Diane Arbus
Diane Arbus March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971) was an American photographer and writer noted for black-and-white square photographs of "deviant and marginal people or of people whose normality seems ugly or surreal." A friend said that Arbus said that she was "afraid.....
photographed Starr in 1964. The photo "Blaze Starr at home" was included in the book and traveling exhibit Diane Arbus: Family Albums.
The 1989 movie Blaze
Blaze (film)
Blaze is a 1989 film written and directed by Ron Shelton. Based on the 1974 memoir Blaze Starr: My Life as Told to Huey Perry by Blaze Starr and Huey Perry, the film stars Paul Newman as Earl Long and Lolita Davidovich as Blaze Starr, with Starr herself appearing in a cameo.-Plot:The movie tells...
recounts the story of their relationship. It was directed by Ron Shelton
Ron Shelton
Ron Shelton is a U.S. film director and screenwriter, most notable for making movies about sports.Shelton is an alumnus of Santa Barbara High School and of the University of Arizona and Westmont College...
, adapted by him from Starr's 1974 memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
Blaze Starr: My Life as Told to Huey Perry. Lolita Davidovich
Lolita Davidovich
Lolita Davidovich is a Canadian film and television actress.-Early life and career:Davidovich was born in London, Ontario, the daughter of immigrants from Yugoslavia. Her father was from Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, and her mother was from Slovenia; she spoke only Serbian during her early years...
portrays Starr in the movie, and Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
plays Long. Starr herself appears in a cameo role
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
.
Personal life
Starr eventually bought the Two O'Clock Club on The BlockThe Block (Baltimore)
Baltimore's The Block is a stretch on the 400 block of East Baltimore Street in Baltimore, Maryland containing several strip clubs, sex shops, and other adult entertainment merchants. In the first half of the 20th century, it was famous for its burlesque houses...
in Baltimore, Maryland. Some of her costumes and other memorabilia have been displayed at the Museum of Sex
Museum of Sex
The Museum of Sex, also known as MoSex, is a sex museum located at 233 Fifth Avenue near 27th Street in Manhattan, New York City. It opened on October 5, 2002.-History:...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and the Burlesque Hall of Fame. In the early 1980s, Starr made an appearance at the Mitchell Brothers
Mitchell brothers
The brothers James "Jim" Lloyd Mitchell and Artie Jay Mitchell were pioneers in the pornography and striptease club business in San Francisco and other parts of California from 1969 until 1991, when Jim was convicted of killing Artie.They opened the O'Farrell Theatre in 1969 as an adult cinema...
' O'Farrell Theatre in San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Semi-retired since 1975, she finally retired from stripping for good in 1983, to become a full-time gemologist. She had dabbled in that occupation part-time since 1975, and spent several holiday seasons selling hand-crafted jewelry at the Carrolltowne Mall in Eldersburg, Maryland
Eldersburg, Maryland
Eldersburg is a census-designated place in Carroll County, Maryland, United States. The population was 27,741 at the 2000 census.-History:...
, near Baltimore. Starr currently conducts jewelry sales with a brother from her website. Starr is also the cousin of onetime country/western music singer Molly O'Day
Molly O'Day (singer)
Molly O'Day was an American country music vocalist who had some degree of fame and commercial success in the late 1940s. Despite her short recording career, 5 years, she became a legend in her own lifetime...
.