The fiery red-headed and voluptuous, Blaze Starr, has left her stamp on the genre as a 1950s burlesque legend.Find out how she built her career, reputation and on-stage persona.
Blaze Starr Burlesque
Alongside Tempest Storm, Blaze Starr was known as one of the busty bad girls of 1950s burlesque. This Baltimore burlesque dancer was also know as “The Hottest Blaze in Burlesque” and “Miss Spontaneous Combustion.”
She got the taglines for her hair colour and unique use of props. As a burlesque performer Blaze Starr pushed the art form. Her acts went beyond traditional fan dances and balloon popping. Her imaginative and creative take on burlesque dancing is what has made her a legend of the art form.
See our Guide to Showgirl Burlesque with Bettsie Bon Bon.
In 1989 she said, “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.”
A smoking couch! This woman was on fire and it is still one of the most iconic burlesque routines to date.
Watch her smoking, ahem, trademark routine, The Exploding Couch, in this 50s burlesque video:
Learn more about how you burlesque with Dirty Martini, Julie Atlas Muz and Imogen Kelly. You can also watch our speedy burlesque history lesson in this video.
