RIP Blaze Starr 1932-2015

Sad news out of West Virginia as legendary burlesque dancerBlaze Starrdied of natural causes on Monday at the age of 83.

Born Fannie Belle Fleming in West Virginia in 1932, Blaze rose to prominence dancing at the world famous Two O'Clock Club in Baltimore, but it was her time spent at New Orleans' Sho Bar in the 1950s that made her such a controversial figure.

While dancing in New Orleans, she began an affair with legendary Louisiana politician Huey Long, which was the subject of both her 1974 autobiography and Ron Shelton's 1989 film Blaze, starring Paul Newman and Shelton's wife Lolita Davidovich as Starr.


In the 60s, Blaze returned to Baltimore and purchased the Two O'Clock Club, building a brand around her notoriety, and influencing plenty of off-beat residents of the city like John Waters and Divine. Blaze's only on-screen nudity came in the 1960 "documentary" Blaze Starr Goes Nudist, which was directed by exploitation legend Doris Wishman.






While we'll all miss Blaze terribly, we're thankful for the amazing body of work she left behind and will continue to sing her praises long into the future.