A lifetime of taking it off

Tempest Storm is still stripping at the age of 80, says Kathleen Hennessey in the Associated Press. Storm, the last of the old-time burlesque dancers, still peels down to fishnets, rhinestone bra, and G-string for crowds of hooting men in Las Vegas, Miami, and elsewhere. “I’m not ready to hang up my G-string,” she says. “I’ve got too many fans that would be disappointed.” Over more than 50 years, Storm has barely changed her act. It still takes her seven minutes and four musical numbers to dispose of her gloves, feather boa, and other outer garments. “I don’t just get up there and rip my clothes off,” she says, tartly. Born Annie Blanche Banks in small-town Georgia, she eked out a living as a cocktail waitress before seeking salvation in show business. Soon, she was being touted as “the Girl With the Fabulous Front” and billed as having the “Best Two Props in Hollywood.” In her heyday, Storm got to know Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Mickey Rooney, Nat King Cole, and Elvis Presley. Even without that level of fame, she likes her life just the way it is. “I’m just blessed, I think. I have fun onstage, and the audience loves it. Why stop?”

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