Spectacles of Agency and Desire: Dance Histories and the Burlesque Stage

Lili St. Cyr

Lili St. Cyr was born Willis Van Schaack on June 3, 1918. Her family included one younger sister, one older sister, and her parents. She later learned that her older sister, who never seemed to like her, was actually her real mother, and her younger sister was actually her aunt, the daughter of her grandparents, who raised all three girls as their daughters. This may have some bearing on Lili’s opinions on children and family, as she always stated that should she ever wish for children, she would adopt. She was also reported as having boasted about undergoing as many as 11 abortions throughout her life, starting at age 14 (DiNardo 191).
 
Lili grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and later she and her younger sister Rosemary started dancing professionally as chorus girls in Hollywood--a transition from their traditional ballet training.  Rosemary eventually married one of the Minskys, a family with a running history in burlesque, and Lili discovered that she was making a fraction of the money Minsky’s leading acts were making, with the catch that they performed nude. She begged her manager to give her a shot, which he later did, with no audition, just based on her looks. The show was a disaster. However, her manager decided to give her another shot, but had someone else besides Lili choreograph the act. Her career took off in 1944 in Montreal, where she quickly gained popularity for her acts.
 
Her shows included now-iconic acts such as “The Flying G-String,” where at the end of her strip tease, a fishing cord would be attached to her G-string, and would go flying off into one of the balconies right as the lights dimmed at the end of the show. Another famous piece Lili herself came up with was bathing in a glass bathtub filled with bubbles. A maid would come help her out of the bath, and Lili would make a production of fixing her makeup, putting on her lingerie, her clothes, and then stroll out when her date arrived. Putting clothes on in a room decked out with vanities, mirrors, a lavish bed, clothing and hat racks, Lili created a persona through fashion. She built the image of who she wanted to be: a glamorous woman with a successful looking man on her arm taking her out for the evening.
 
Lili was also famous for acting out historical scenes or figures, often seen in historical burlesque shows, such as Cinderella, Cleopatra, Dorian Grey, a matador, or a Salome. She also had a famous “Jungle Goddess” act where she pretended to make love to a parrot. Interestingly enough, she also performed acts were she was a bride, or where she committed suicide. These latter acts mirror part of her life quite well, as she had a history of suicide attempts, and suffered six divorces.
 
Constantly making the news and tabloids at the time for her back-to-back divorces and weddings, amidst reports of her suicide attempts, Lili could be considered a controversial figure. Adding to this were rumors that she had an affair with Marilyn Monroe, as name of ex-husband claims in the biography Norma Jean: My Secret Life with Marilyn Monroe by Ted Jordan (page number).  This debate is still undecided, but it is true that Marilyn and Lili had a friendship, and Marilyn took a lot of inspiration from Lili for her persona, learning from Lili how to be a “sex goddess.” Lili performed and mingled with the important people of the time, including presidents Reagan and Kennedy, and other celebrities, who had caught an interest in her through her shows in Las Vegas, where she had brought burlesque, revolutionizing the Las Vegas scene forever.

Lili starred in a few movies including The Miami Story and The Naked and The Dead, but her acting career didn’t blossom and she soon left it behind. However, she became known for her pin-up images, which she continued to sell for a living after she retired.

Fame, fortune and men were to be her downfall. Lili fell into the habit of drug use during the late 1960s, influenced by her last husband and men she dated after they had divorced. She stopped performing by the 1970s and exhausted her savings on drugs and her lavish lifestyle. When this way of living was no longer sustainable, she became a recluse, living in a small apartment in LA with some cats. She made an income by selling pin-up images from her prime through a mail order service, often keeping correspondence with the men buying her images. She also started her own mail order Lingerie Boutique, the “Undie World of Lili St. Cyr,” offering clothing for strippers and exciting options for the every-day woman. She passed away on January 29, 1999.
Works Cited:

DiNardo, Kelly. Gilded Lili: Lili St. Cyr and the Striptease Mystique. New York: Back Stage, 2007. Print.

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