With its rich history and dazzling performances, Burlesque dancing has given rise to legendary figures who have bewitched audiences with their charm, wit, and seductive artistry.

This comprehensive guide highlights the lives of some famous iconic burlesque dancers, uncovering their paths to stardom, reliving their most spellbinding performances, and celebrating the indelible legacy they etched into the entertainment world.

List of Famous Burlesque Dancers

1: Gypsy Rose Lee

Date of Birth: January 8, 1911, Washington, United States

Date of Death: April 26, 1970, California, United States

Best Works:

• George White’s Melody
• I Must Love Someone
• Star and Garter
• Fancy Meeting You

Accolades:

• Walk of Fame

Gypsy Rose Lee transitioned into a burlesque dancer, becoming a legendary striptease artist. Her act became famous for its elegance, wit, and the emphasis on “tease” rather than overt stripping.

A wardrobe malfunction during a performance led to a signature act incorporating accidental dress drops. She became one of the biggest stars at Minsky’s Burlesque, performing there for four years and frequently dealing with show raids.

Rose Lee also authored a mystery thriller, “The G-String Murders” (1941), which was adapted into the film “Lady of Burlesque” (1943). She also released a second murder mystery, “Mother Finds a Body” (1942).

2: Dita Von Teese

Date of Birth: September 28, 1972, Michigan, U.S.

Best Works:

• The Martini Glass
• The Opium Den
• Le Bain Noir
• Bird of Paradise

Accolades:

• Beverly Hills Film Festival (2006)
• Best screenplay and best cinematography at SXSW
• Raindance Film Festival, and Mill Valley Film Festival

Heather Renée Sweet, better known as Dita Von Teese, is a Burlesque dancer, model, actress, producer, and entrepreneur. She started her career in 1992 as a dancer in modern burlesque, also known as Neo-Burlesque.

Teese is also known as the “Queen of Burlesque” for her elaborate dance shows, which feature props and characters inspired by 1930s and 1940s musicals and films. She has also launched four perfumes under the name Dita Von Teese Perfumes.

Teese’s signature looks—painted eyes, heavily penciled brows, crimson lipstick, and blue-black locks added more to her persona and dance.

3: Sally Rand

Date of Birth: April 3, 1904, Missouri, U.S.

Date of death: August 31, 1979, California, U.S.

Best Works:

• Century of Progress
• Sally Rand Tribute
• To Sail Beyond the Sunset

Accolades:

• Selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1927

It was Cecil B. DeMille who, inspired by a Rand McNally atlas, gave the name Sally Rand to the woman we know as Helen Gould Beck.

Sally began her career in the 1920s, acting on stage and appearing in silent films. After the introduction of sound films, Rand transitioned to dancing. She gained popularity for her fan dance, which she performed at the Paramount Club in Chicago. However, it was her most famous performance at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, known as the Century of Progress, that truly captivated the audience.

In 1936, Sally Rand made a significant move by purchasing the Music Box burlesque hall in San Francisco. This bold step later transformed the venue into the iconic Great American Music Hall.

4: Blaze Starr

Date of Birth: April 10, 1932, West Virginia, US

Date of Death: June 15, 2015, West Virginia, US

Best Works:

• Blaze Starr Goes Nudist
• Blae
• On the Block
• Behind the Burly Q

Born as “Fannie Belle Fleming,” she was given the stage name “Blaze Starr” by Cecil B. DeMille, inspired by her vivacious presence and fiery red hair.

She began performing at the Two O’Clock Club in Baltimore in 1950, quickly becoming its headliner. Starr rose to national fame after being featured in the February 1954 Esquire magazine article “B-Belles of Burlesque: You Get Strip Tease With Your Beer in Baltimore”.

Blaze Starr created unique stage routines, including performing with dangerous cats like a baby black panther and developing the “exploding couch” routine, in which smoke, fans, and red silk streamers created the illusion of a couch bursting into flames. Starr’s costumes and memorabilia have been displayed at the Museum of Sex in New York City and the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.

5: Tempest Storm

Date of Birth: February 29, 1928 in Eastman, Georgia, U.S.

Date of Death: April 20, 2021, in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.

Best Works:

• French Peep Show
• Paris After Midnight
• Striptease Girl
• Teaserama
• Buxom Beautease

Tempest Storm was hired as a chorus dancer at $40 a week and then promoted to stripper at $60 a week. She moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1953 and performed at the Star Theater. Later, she moved to the Capitol Theater, owned by her then-husband, John Becker.

A “burlesque war” ensued when Becker’s ex-wife and rival burlesque star, Arabelle Andre, performed at the Star Theater as “John’s Other Wife”. She is known as “The Queen Of Exotic Dancers,” her career has spanned over 60 years.

Storm was one of the famous burlesque dancers of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. She continued performing well into the early 21st century, maintaining her status as a prominent figure in burlesque.

6: Josephine Baker

Date of Birth: June 3, 1906, Missouri, US

Date of death: April 12, 1975, Paris, France

Best Works:

• La Sirène des Tropiques
• Die Frauen von Folies Bergères
• Moulin Rouge
• An jedem Finger zehn

Accolades:

• Inducted into the Panthéon in Paris
• Inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame and Hall of Famous Missourians
• Honored with a wax sculpture at The Griot Museum of Black History

Josephine Baker began dancing in the streets inspired by African-American jazz and blues.

Josephine moved to Paris in 1925 and debuted in “La Revue Nègre” at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, becoming famous for her erotic dancing and nearly nude performances.

Baker performed the “Danse Sauvage” in a skirt made of artificial bananas, which became iconic. She starred in the 1927 silent film “Siren of the Tropics,” becoming the first black woman to star in a major motion picture. She headlined revues at the Folies Bergère in Paris, captivating audiences and earning nicknames like “Black Venus” and “Creole Goddess.”

7: Lili St. Cyr

Date of Birth: June 3, 1917, Minnesota, US

Date of Death: January 29, 1999, California, US

Best Work:

• The Wolf Woman
• Afternoon of a Faun
• The Ballet Dancer
• In a Persian Harem
• The Chinese Virgin
• Suicide
• Jungle Goddess

Lili St. Cyr took ballet lessons throughout her youth and began dancing professionally as a chorus line member at the Florentine Gardens in Hollywood. During her heydays, she performed at Montreal’s Gayety Theatre (from 1944 to 1951) and was recognized as “Montreal’s most famous woman.” She gained prominence in the 1940s and 1950s alongside Gypsy Rose Lee and Ann Corio.

Cyr adopted the stage name Lili St. Cyr, inspired by the French aristocracy. She is also hailed for her high-class and creative performances, including “The Flying G,” in which a stagehand pulled a fishing line attached to her G-string, making it fly into the balcony.

Cyr’s performances were a spectacle of grandeur, as she used elaborate props, including bathtubs, vanities, mirrors, and hat racks. She transformed into characters such as Cinderella, Salome, Cleopatra, and Dorina Grey, captivating her audience with her artistry.

8: Betty Grable

Date of Birth: December 18, 1916, Missouri, U.S.

Date of Death: July 2, 1973, California, U.S.

Best Works:

• Mother Wore Tights
• How to Marry a Millionaire
• Down Argentine Way

Accolades:

• Photoplay Awards
• Walk of Fame
• St. Louis Walk of Fame
• Listed among the Quigley Poll’s Top 10 box office stars for 10 consecutive years

Bett Grable studied acting at the Hollywood Community Theater and attended the Ernest Belcher Academy of Dance. In the 1930s, she signed contracts with RKO and Paramount Pictures and appeared in a series of B movies, often portraying college students.

Grable became a celebrated sex symbol and the top pin-up girl of World War II. She was famous for her bathing suit poster, a wartime favorite. With her work, Grable is remembered as an iconic actress, dancer, and pin-up model who impacted Hollywood and popular culture.

9: Carrie Finnell

Date of Birth: November 14, 1899, Kentucky, U.S.

Date of Death: November 14, 1963, Ohio, U.S.

Best Works:

• Dark Angeles

Carrie Lee Finnell was a prominent American burlesque dancer and comic entertainer. She specialized in burlesque and was known for her high kicks and precise turns; she also developed a unique striptease act, gradually removing clothing over an extended period.

Finnell started as a member of the Le Roy Musical Comedy Company and the Guy Players. She gradually gained fame as “Minneapolis’s Sweetheart”t. She became famous and came to be known as “The Girl with $100,000 Legs,” “The Bad Girl of Burlesque,” and “The Mammary Manipulator.” During her heydays, she was one of the highest-paid Burlesque dancers in the world.

Finnell was famous for her muscle control techniques, making her nipple tassels dance at different speeds and in opposite directions. Her performances were comedic and provocative, emphasizing humor over explicitness.

10: Mata Hari

Date of birth: August 7, 1876, Leeuwarden, Netherlands

Date of Death: October 15, 1917, Vincennes, France

Best Works:

• Mata Hari
• Cafe Society
• Lancelot Link
• Up the Front
• Zsa Zsa Gabor

Mata Hari’s ascent to stardom began with her groundbreaking performance on March 13, 1905, at the Musée Guimet in Paris. She mesmerized the audience with her innovative blend of Javanese and Hindu-inspired dance elements adorned in exotic costumes.

Hari’s signature act involved the progressive shedding of clothing, ending in a jeweled breastplate and ornaments. She achieved immediate success, captivated audiences with her provocative style, and became a mistress to millionaire industrialist Émile Étienne Guimet.

Cementing marks in some of the famous burlesque dancers, Hari’s frequent nude or semi-nude poses, while controversial, added to her public image. She used her connections strategically to secure roles and advance her career while infusing her performances with cultural and religious symbolism.