Burlesque Bourbon Style!
The best thing about the Bourbon Street 500 club (other than their STUNNING PRODUCTION VALUES on display here ("Get on the divan, honey") was that Clarence "Frogman" Henry performed there. Jeez…I wouldn't sit on that couch unless someone wiped it off with a towel like the slant board at my gym!
Seriously one…one of the premiere joints in the country, and the dancer had less than 6 feet to twirl in. The 500 club was a dump from the "glory days" of burlesque. They actually thought this shot was classy enough for their promotional postcards! Here's another with Linda given a little more room...but not much.
One of the Prima brothers ran it at one time, but there was, of course, skullduggery in the books.
By 1971, 42 inch bust Sandra Sexton was stripping there for half-filled seats and the glamor which was never really there there ended for good. Just ten years before that, the joint was hot enough for the morals squad to raid the place…but the gate dropped like a loose pastie once real smut became available in the movies. By the 1970s no one cared enough to lift a finger, much less their head.
The stripper is the postcard above is Linda Brigette AKA Georgia Lambert. Her manager gave her the name Brigette hoping Bourbon Street drunks would mistake her name on the marquee as Brigitte Bardot. Bardot she, um… weren't. She wasn't a blonde either…fake. As for the rest of her? I'll leave that up to you. (Actually, I'll figure it out for you…rock hard early implants.) Bourbon Street boulders. Sometimes Linda danced with a monkey, and I don't mean her husband. A REAL monkey.
Linda replaced Lilly "The Cat Girl" Christine when LIlly she died of peritonitis. Brigette clearly was no Lilly Christine either.
You can read all about Linda HERE on a tribute page.
Carlos Marcello associate Frank Caracci apparently ran the dump behind the scenes. You seldom see Frank's name without "reputed" or "alleged" written before it. Some folks have claimed they saw Jack Ruby there before popping Oswald. Nice. Classy. Let's DANCE.
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Crazy, man, crazy! Typical "disposition" of an "exotic" dancer. This time we let the copy tell the story.
Burlesque Gender Bender!
Primrose Semon, Cyclonic Sensation and Burlesque Dust. This
is by far the most detailed entry on one Primrose Semon you will find
on the web. Primrose Semon was apparently a fast woman, excuse me, a
fast soubrette, who performed as both a man and a woman. She had
flaming red hair, and may have been "one of the seven wonders of the
world" then, but she's dust now. A shame...she must have been
something.
As late as
1950, Primrose was still hoofing it enough to get a mention in Billboard
Magazine, performing as a comedienne for a two week engagement in
Toronto. Quite a feat, 50 years earlier she was performing as Edna in
Uncle Tom's Cabin. One site claims she sounded like Martha Raye but I
won't hold that against her.
On
January 4, 1943 Primrose escaped injury when the auto she was using to
get from one gig to another crashed into the side of a bridge. No
injuries. Songs she performed (and for which sheet music exists...most
of them piled up in the corners of antique shops) include "Everybody's
Doin' It Now" "Forgive Me" "I've Got the Finest Man" (which begins
"Happy, happy, happy little bird I am")
That's
all I've found and she is gone...but henceforth, when one searches her
name, this will pop up, and maybe one day a curious relative will happen
upon it and say hello. It has happened many times before. I have
heard from a dozen relatives and such since I started digging up
forgotten folks like Primrose. I
have heard from the offspring of singers, artists, cartoonists,
strippers and more. The relatives of criminals don't write in for some
reason. On occasion, some will ask me not to print their name, others
encourage it. Some have offered to share more pictures and
such...others are just glad to see someone took the time to appreciate
their great-grandfather or long lost Aunt. Since there is no money in
blogging, it is these little personal contacts I enjoy most.
If you know anything about Primrose Semon, say hello! I'll print your note.
The Burlesque Wonder Show Flyer (featuring Primrose Semon) 1918 Collection Jim Linderman
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