Biography for
Sally Rand

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Date of Birth

2 January 1904, Hickory County, Missouri, USA

Date of Death

31 August 1979, Glendora, California, USA (congestive heart failure)

Birth Name

Helen Gould Beck

Statura

5' 1" (1.55 m)

Mini Biography

She's considered an American icon in the world of entertainment although most contemporaries have no idea who she is until her legendary risque "fan dance" is brought up. Then they put two and two together. Burlesque star Sally Rand was born in the Ozark region (Missouri) in 1904, her father a corporal in the Spanish-American War and her mother a Pennsylvania Dutch Quaker. Inspired by Anna Pavlova, she became interested in dance at a young age and left home to join a carnival as a teen. She invariably became a cigarette girl, chorine, cafe dancer, artist's model and circus performer (Ringling) through a series of introductions. She later joined a repertory theater company and took acting seriously for the first time. During the 20s she appeared in a number of productions, playing Sadie Thompson in a production of "Rain" opposite Humphrey Bogart. Films came her way as she was able to score work (due to her agile background in the circus) from Mack Sennett and Hal Roach in a few of their daredevil slapstick shorts. She joined mentor Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and entered feature films with a new name that DeMille gave her -"Sally Rand." She decorated a number of silents, including westerns with Hoot Gibson and others, but a pronounced lisp hurt her career come the advent of sound. It was at this juncture that the shapely dame decided to work on incorporating her talent for dancing back into her career. With the right mixture of enticement, imagination and intricate feathery placement, Sally Rand came upon her secret formula to success. As an exotic burlesque performer, she not only winningly ignited male libidos but found a steady gig for the rest of her days. A long-standing job at the Paramount Club in 1932 is where the idea of her "fan dance" was created. Her "Lady Godiva" stunt at the Chicago's World's Fair had her arrested on lewd charges but she was eventually released. All the brouhaha just increased her notoriety. She later created the "bubble dance" in which she did a taunting dance with a huge five foot specially constructed translucent bubble to the delight of male audiences. She would appear in later years at various revues, expositions and fairs still teasing and playing "hide and peek" with the guys, her act seldom straying from its original concept. She was arrested a few more times than she was married (at least three). Her last appearance was in Kansas City in 1978. She died the following year.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

Coniuge

Fred Lalla	(12 August 1954 - ?) (divorced)
Harry Finkelstein	(1949 - 1950) (divorced)
Thurkel "Turk" Greenough	(1 October 1941 - ?) (divorced)
Clarence Aaron 'Tod' Robbins	(? - ?) (divorced)

Curiosità

Debuted her fan dance at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. Her career thereafter lasted 30 years.

Renowned for her fan dance.

1927 Wampus Baby Star.

Measurements: 36-24-37 (at 1933 debut of her "fan dance"), 37-26-37 (still dancing at age 60), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

Her fan act consisted of two giant seven-foot pink ostrich feather fans.

Had a son named Sean who gave her a granddaughter just a few years before her death.

Once performed her act on the William Randolph Hearst yacht.

Most people think SHE was the original female ecdysiast. Not true, Susie Johnson displayed her charms and more in 1895, securing a place in history as the central figure in the infamous "Pie Girl Dinner."

As a little girl, she met then-president Theodore Roosevelt, and fell asleep in his lap.

Personal Quotes

"The dictionary defines 'exotic' as that which is strange and foreign. I am not strange; I like boys. I am not foreign; I was born and raised in Hickory County, Missouri."

'I'm not the type to sit on a porch and watch life go by."

"I have been successful, and I am grateful for my success. I have had some experiences that I wish I never had had, but that would be true in any business. I cannot say sincerely that I would have chosen just this road to fortune. Perhaps I might have wished for another way. But I took the opportunity that came to me. Certainly I am an opportunist. I admit it."

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