Tempest Storm is 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:...

 of an American stripper, 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, and motion picture actress. Along with Lili St. Cyr

Lili St. Cyr

Lili St. Cyr , was a prominent American burlesque stripper.- Early years :She was born as Willis Marie Van Schaack in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1918. She had a sister, Rosemary Van Schaack Minsky...

 and Blaze Starr

Blaze Starr

Blaze Starr is an American former stripper and American burlesque star. Her vivacious presence and inventive use of stage props earned her the nickname "The Hottest Blaze in Burlesque"...

, she was one of the best known burlesque performers of the 1950s and 1960s. She is regarded as having one of the longest careers as a burlesque performer, spanning more than 50 years. She still regularly performs as of the 2000s.

Early life and career

Storm was born Annie Blanche Banks in Eastman

Eastman, Georgia

Eastman is a city in Dodge County, Georgia, United States. The population was 13,541 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Dodge County...

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

. By the age of 20, she had already been twice married and divorced. She decided to head for Hollywood. Her beauty landed her work as a chorus girl

Chorus line

A chorus line is a substantial group of dancers who together perform synchronized routines, usually in musical theatre. Sometimes, singing is also performed. Chorus line dancers in Broadway musicals and revues have been referred to by slang terms such as ponies, gypsies and twirlies...

, but her figure, combined with a magnetic stage personality, led her to a highly successful career in burlesque. Her professional debut was at El Rey Theater in Oakland, California

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

. She adopted 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:...

 Tempest Storm about 1950 and changed it legally in 1957.
In 1955, while working at the Tropics Nightclub, in Denver CO, Tempest visited the University of Colorado, Boulder, campus. All she took off was her mink coat, but she started a near-riot.
She was married to Duke Ellington's

Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

 singer (and first black cowboy) Herb Jeffries.

Feature performer

Storm was a regular performer for many years at the EL REY, a burlesque theater in Oakland, California

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

, as well as at clubs around the United States, including in Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

. She was famous for her physical measurements (44DD-25-35) and her naturally red hair. She was featured in numerous men's magazines and burlesque movies, including Russ Meyer

Russ Meyer

Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer was a U.S. motion picture director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer....

's French Peep Show (1950), Paris After Midnight (1951), Striptease Girl (1952), Irving Klaw's Teaserama

Teaserama

-Plot:This is a compilation of several 1950s burlesque acts, so there's no real plot to summarize. There are some strippers, some stand-up comics of the take-my-wife-please variety and cult favorite Bettie Page who introduces the acts and frames the film by strutting her stuff.- Cast :*Bettie Page...

, (1955) (which also featured Bettie Page

Bettie Page

Bettie Mae Page was an American model who became famous in the 1950s for her fetish modeling and pin-up photos. She has often been called the "Queen of Pinups"...

) and his Buxom Beautease (1956). She traveled extensively and did many performances in Las Vegas

Las Vegas Strip

The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...

 and Reno, Nevada

Reno, Nevada

Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...

.

In 1953 she moved to Portland, Oregon and worked at the Star Theater

Star Theater (Portland, Oregon)

The Star Theater is a historic former silent film theater in Portland, Oregon, United States. The address was originally 9 NW Sixth Avenue, but since 2001 thhas been 13 NW Sixth Avenue....

. A few months later she moved over to the Capital Theater down the street after her then-husband John Becker bought it. The owner of the Star then brought Becker's ex-wife, and rival burlesque star, Arabelle Andre to the Star to perform as "John's Other Wife". This sparked a "burlesque war" that made it into the pages of LIFE magazine on November 30, 1953.

In the late 1950s, her breast

Breast

The breast is the upper ventral region of the torso of a primate, in left and right sides, which in a female contains the mammary gland that secretes milk used to feed infants.Both men and women develop breasts from the same embryological tissues...

s - her "moneymakers" as she called them - were insured by Lloyds of London for one million dollars. She acted in several motion pictures both as herself and in a character role.

Retirement

With writer Bill Boyd, Ms. Storm told her life story in the 1987 book Tempest Storm: The Lady Is a Vamp. (ISBN 0-934601-25-9). She was inducted into the Exotic World Burlesque Museum

Exotic World Burlesque Museum

The Burlesque Hall of Fame is the name of the burlesque museum located on Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas. Formerly known as Exotic World, the museum historically was located on the site of an abandoned goat farm in Helendale, California...

 Hall of Fame in Helendale

Helendale, California

Helendale is an unincorporated community located in San Bernardino County, California, on historic Route 66 west of the Mojave Freeway, between Barstow and Victorville, in the Victor Valley. It includes the Helendale resort community of Silver Lakes.-History:...

, 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...

, where one of her G-string

G-string

A G-string is a type of thong underwear or swimsuit, a narrow piece of cloth, leather, or plastic, that covers or holds the genitals, passes between the buttocks, and is attached to a band around the hips, worn as swimwear or underwear by women and men...

s is part of the museum's display.

Storm officially retired in 1995 at the age of 67, but has done occasional stage performances since.

In 1999 she stripped in San Francisco's O'Farrell Theatre to mark the club's 30-year anniversary. Mayor Willie Brown declared a "Tempest Storm Day" in her honor.

Family

Storm was married four times. She has one daughter. She currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

.

External links

• Roger Ebert interview