Farewell to doyenne of burlesque, Rita Hayworth lookalike and undisputed Queen of Exotic Dancers Miss Tempest Storm (née Annie Blanche Banks, 29 February 1928 - 20 April 2021).
The death of “the torrid tornado from out West” aged 93 conclusively ends a chapter in striptease history (Storm outlived all her contemporaries including Russ Meyer, Bettie Page and Blaze Starr).
What a life! At her peak Storm earned $100,000 a year, making her the highest-paid striptease performer in history. Her last performance was in 2010. And she had a fling with young Elvis!
I used to love catching glimpses of bouffant-haired eternal showgirl Storm at the annual Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekenders over the years, consistently looking immaculately groomed and fiercely glamorous. This shot of Storm and I was taken at Viva Las Vegas 2017 at the car show. I call this "touched by a goddess" because when we posed together Storm placed her hand on my lower back! Tempest Storm was a woman and a half!
For my social media tribute posts to Storm today, I really wanted to post these glamour shots taken by sexploitation maestro Russ Meyer in 1952 - but I was afraid they were too "boob-tastic" and would instantly send me to Facebook (or Instagram) jail!
Read the New York Times obituary for Tempest Storm here.
Heavens! Pneumatic's the word... [And in that pic with you she certainly didn't have the look of woman of almost 90.]
ReplyDeleteRIP, Miss Storm! Jx
A good Baltimore Girl.
ReplyDeleteWe claimed her even though she wasn't a native.
DeleteBlaze Starr was definitely a Baltimore girl who performed at The Block! John Waters speaks about Starr with affection.
DeleteShe is a knock-out. Amazing photos. How glamorous. I love how she did it with such class. And Elvis, too boot! Good thing she got there when he was young :) And speaking of cuties... you more than qualify. I like your 'bad boy' look. ;)
ReplyDelete