Blaze Starr Exotic Dancer - Born 10 April 1932 · Wayne County, West Virginia, USA

Died 15 June 2015 · Wilsondale, West Virginia, USA (heart problems)

Birth name Fannie Belle Fleming

Nicknames Miss Spontaneous Combustion, The Hottest Blaze in Burlesque

Height 5′ 6″ (1.68 m)

Mini Bio Legendary stripper and burlesque dancer Blaze Starr was born Fannie Belle Fleming in 1932 in Wilsondale, West Virginia. Her parents were Lora Evans and Goodlow Mullins. She had ten siblings. Blaze left home and moved to Washington, DC while only in her mid-teens. She was discovered by her first manager Red Snyder working as either a hat-check girl or at a donut shop. Starr got her stage name from Snyder, but, nonetheless, still left him after he attempted to rape her. With her fiery red hair, shapely and voluptuous 38D-24-37 figure, and sultry, energetic, and captivating stage presence (her stage routines included a comedic exploding coach gag and having a large trained black panther untie a ribbon on her costume, which made it fall to the floor), Blaze became a major headliner at the Two O'Clock Club in Baltimore, Maryland, and earned the nicknames "Miss Spontaneous Combustion" and "The Hottest Blaze in Burlesque." Starr made $1,500 dollars per week at the peak of her stripping career. Among the men's magazines she appeared in at the height of her fame are "Sizzle," "Ace," "Scamp," "Sir!," "Best for Men," "Rogue," and "Modern Man." Moreover, Starr posed for pictures for noted fetish photographer Irving Klaw. Blaze achieved her greatest notoriety in the late 1950s as the paramour for Louisiana state governor Earl Kemp Long (Earl Long); this affair inspired the 1989 feature film Blaze (1989), which even has a cameo from Ms. Starr as a stripper. She portrayed herself in the immensely popular Doris Wishman nudie cutie romp Blaze Starr Goes Nudist (1962). In 1974, Starr wrote the autobiographical book "Blaze Starr: My Life as Told to Huey Perry." Blaze retired from stripping in 1983. In 1989, Starr had become a gemologist who spent several holiday seasons selling hand-crafted jewelry at the Carrolltowne Mall in Eldersburg, Maryland. Blaze also owned and operated the Two O'Clock Club in Baltimore, Maryland. Starr died at age 83 on June 15, 2015 at her home in Wilsondale, West Virginia.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: woodyanders

Family Spouse Carroll Glorioso (?-?) divorced

Relationship

Earl Long

Trivia

Was a paramour of Louisiana Governor Earl Long.

Starr died June 15, 2015, either at her home in Wilsondale, West Virginia, or at a hospital in nearby Williamson (sources vary). She was 83 years old. She had been worried about the health of her dog, whom she adopted as a stray. Her dog died hours later.

In her later years, she moved back to West Virginia, to what was described in the press as an eighty-acre compound that she shared with a number of her siblings, nephews, and nieces. She had always stayed close to her family.

Blaze was arrested more than once. The first time was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for lewdness, by a young police officer, Frank Rizzo, who would later become that city's police commissioner and mayor. Another time was in New Orleans.

Her trademark routine was "the exploding couch". As she explained in 1989, "I had finally got my gimmick, a comedy thing where I'm supposed to be getting so worked up that I stretch out on the couch, and - when I push a secret button - smoke starts coming out from like between my legs. Then a fan and a floodlight come on, and you see all these red silk streamers blowing, shaped just like flames, so it looked like the couch had just burst into fire.".

Starr was a first cousin of singer Molly O'Day.

She began performing at the Two O'Clock Club nightclub in 1950. She eventually became its headliner. She rose to national renown after she was profiled in a February 1954 Esquire 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.

She was the second eldest of 11 siblings.

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 dance and balloon dance. She often performed with dangerous cats, including a baby black panther.

In the early 1980s, Starr made an appearance at the Mitchell Brothers' O'Farrell Theatre in San Francisco.

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

Reared in the Newground Hollow area of Wilsondale, West Virginia, she left home at either age 14 or 15, claiming to have suffered a gang rape during her teenage years. She first moved to Logan, West Virginia, working as a carhop, and then from there to Washington D.C., where, according to her autobiography, she was discovered by a promoter while she was employed in a doughnut shop.

Based on her memoir Blaze Starr! My Life as Told to Huey Perry (published in 1974), the 1989 film Blaze told the story of that affair starring Paul Newman as Long and Lolita Davidovich as Starr, with Starr herself acting in a cameo role and as a consultant.

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 Klaw. Director Doris Wishman's 1962 film Blaze Starr Goes Nudist, a nudie-sexploitation 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 photographed Starr in 1964. The photo "Blaze Starr at home" was included in the book and traveling exhibit Diane Arbus: Family Albums.

In 1968, Starr bought the Two O'Clock Club on The Block in Baltimore, Maryland, which at the time was valued at 65,000 dollars. She continued to perform in the club.

Some of Starr's costumes and other memorabilia have been displayed at the Museum of Sex in New York City and the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.

In the late 1950s, while briefly working at the Sho-Bar on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Starr began a long-term affair with then-governor Earl Long. 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".

One of her sisters claimed the stress, along with a "severe heart condition", killed her.

Semi-retired since 1975, Starr finally retired from stripping for good in 1983 to become a full-time gemologist, an occupation in which she had dabbled in part-time since 1975 and had spent several holiday seasons selling hand-crafted jewelry at the Carrolltowne Mall in Eldersburg, near Baltimore.

Quotes

[from a 1989 newspaper interview] Then you wore a G-string. Today you wear nothing. It was an art form. Burlesque took over when vaudeville ended and porn took over when burlesque ended.

I did a comedy act. I never tried to be sexy. I always wore a mink coat and said, "Phew! It's warm in here." (from a 1989 interview with the Evening Sun)

Blaze Starr (born Fannie Belle Fleming; April 10, 1932 – June 15, 2015) was an American stripper and burlesque comedian. Her vivacious presence and inventive use of stage props earned her the nickname "The Hottest Blaze in Burlesque". She was also known for her affair with Louisiana Governor Earl Kemp Long. The 1989 film Blaze is based on her memoir.

Early life

Starr was born on April 10, 1932 in rural Wayne County, West Virginia, along Twelvepole Creek, (also spelled Twelve Pole Creek) the second eldest of 11 siblings born to Lora (née Evans) and Goodlow Fleming).

Reared in the Newground Hollow (also spelled New Ground Hollow) area of Wilsondale, West Virginia, she left home at either age 14 or 15 and moved to Washington D.C., where, according to her autobiography, she was discovered by a promoter while she was employed in a doughnut shop.

She recalled: I was 15 and working as a waitress at the Mayflower Donut Shop in Washington, D.C., when a man named Red Snyder told me I was pretty and ought to be in show business. I said I had been raised to believe it was sinful to dance, but I could play the guitar. "Good," he said. "I'm going to make you a star." Red said he wanted me to dress up as a cowgirl, play the guitar a little and then strip. I had never heard of striptease before. But Red sweet-talked me and said the girls who did all had to be really beautiful. When you have never even shown your belly button, the thought of stripping is scary. So when I went onstage for the first time in my red-and-white cowgirl outfit, I used my hat to cover myself. After the show I threw up. It wasn't that I thought there was anything wrong with stripping. I was just overwhelmed by the emotion of getting into show business.

Snyder became Fleming's first manager, encouraged her to start stripping, and gave her the stage name Blaze Starr. She suffered a gang rape during her teenage years.

Starr moved to Baltimore, where she began performing at the Two O'Clock Club nightclub in 1950. She eventually became its headliner. She rose to national renown after she was profiled in a February 1954 Esquire 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 dance and balloon dance.[citation needed] She often performed with dangerous cats, including a baby black panther.

Her trademark routine was "the exploding couch". As she explained in 1989, "I had finally got my gimmick, a comedy thing where I'm supposed to be getting so worked up that I stretch out on the couch, and — when I push a secret button — smoke starts coming out from like between my legs. Then a fan and a floodlight come on, and you see all these red silk streamers blowing, shaped just like flames, so it looked like the couch had just burst into fire."

Blaze was arrested more than once. The first time was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for lewdness, by a young police officer, Frank Rizzo, who would later become that city's mayor. Another time was in New Orleans.

Relationship with Earl Long In the late 1950s, while working at the Sho-Bar on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Starr began a long-term affair with then-governor Earl Long. 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". Starr and Long's relationship, cited as one reason for Long being involuntarily committed to a mental hospital, lasted until his death in 1960. In his will, Long bequeathed Starr $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 Klaw. Director Doris Wishman's 1962 film Blaze Starr Goes Nudist, a nudie-sexploitation 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 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 recounted the story of her and Long's relationship. The film was directed by Ron Shelton, adapted by him from Starr's memoir Blaze Starr: My Life as Told to Huey Perry (1974), and starred Lolita Davidovich as Starr and Paul Newman as Long. Starr herself appeared in a cameo role.

Personal life

Starr eventually bought the Two O'Clock Club on The Block in Baltimore, Maryland. Some of her costumes and other memorabilia have been displayed at the Museum of Sex in New York City and the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas. In the early 1980s, Starr made an appearance at the Mitchell Brothers' O'Farrell Theatre in San Francisco.

Semi-retired since 1975, she finally retired from stripping for good in 1983 to become a full-time gemologist, an occupation in which she had dabbled part-time since 1975 and had spent several holiday seasons selling hand-crafted jewelry at the Carrolltowne Mall in Eldersburg, near Baltimore. She was a cousin of singer Molly O'Day.

Death

Starr died June 15, 2015, either at her home in Wilsondale, or at a hospital in nearby Williamson (sources vary). She was 83 years old. She had been worried about the health of her dog, whom she adopted as a stray. One of her sisters claimed the stress, along with a "severe heart condition", killed her. Her dog died hours later.

Four siblings predeceased her: brothers Bennie, Ray, and Sherman Franklin, and sister Faye. She was survived by six of her siblings: John P., Berta Gail, Betty, Debbie, Judy, and Mary.