An Exclusive from the Queen of Striptease by Timothy Green Beckley.
For those unfamiliar with your stage act, can you describe a typical performance?
I start off by walking up and down the runway with a full-length mink coat — a very expensive — one draped over my body. It “sort of” slips off my shoulders and I end up dragging it in back of me so that it touches the floor. Normally, this will get the women in the audience ooh-ing and ah-ing. Using this as my cue, I strut to the edge of the stage and say, winking right at somebody’s husband, “That’s all right, honey, you’re going to buy me another one.” Then I grind a bit and announce in a low, sexy voice·, “He’s going to make me work real hard for it. But I don’t mind, I like my work.”
After I’ve completed this part of my routine, I go to a custom-made couch at stage center, switch on a lighted lamp post sign that has “Passion Street” inscribed on it, and take off all my clothes except for a G-string and a net bra. Then I throw a powder-puff out into the audience and whoever catches it — of course it has to be a guy — gets to powder my boobs. When the lucky fellow joins me on stage, I stall him by exclaiming, “Wait, I have to see which one wants to go first.” With this I point a finger at some woman, maybe his wife or girlfriend, and say, “Lady, would you like to pull the booby string? You know, the booby string. It’s an invisible cord. Just reach up and pull it.” Immediately, they’ll give a make-believe yank and I’ll wiggle one of my boobs. Finally, I turn to the guy who caught the powder puff and remark, “I know you’re dying to lick it a hit or two — I mean hit it a lick or two.” This never fails to bring down the house. After he’s powdered the left boob I’ll tell him to wait a minute, “The right one wants some too.”
What happens next?
Following this last bit, I select another man and ask if he wants to go flower-picking in the hills. For this routine, I take a rose and tuck it between my boobs, instructing him on how to get the rose by utilizing his teeth. “No hands, no hands on the boobs,” I scold, if he makes a grab for them. At this point, I start to rotate by breasts — boom, boom, boom — right in his face. This gets a roar from the audience. I warn him not to pick the cherries on the mountain tops, “Because if you do there’s going to be a big mountain slide.”
I conclude the act by getting on the sofa and saying, “Boy, this is hard work. It’s getting hot up here. I guess I’ll rest my weary body.” I proceed by lying down and stretching out. From the heating columns next to the couch, the smoke and tire start to billow up. While all this is happening, I’m jumping up and down shouting, “Stop it! Stop it! Save me! Save me! Call for help, honey!” When all the commotion dies, I get up and put on this big feather negligee and run back to the mike and exclaim, “We must keep covered and be a lady at all times.” It’s all comedy. I don’t reveal everything and I don’t show the filthy stuff like lying on the couch huffing, puffing and having imaginary sex.
How old were you when you stripped for the first time?
Fifteen.
This seems awfully young. Why and under what circumstances did you leave home and get started in the business?
You must keep in mind that the conditions I was raised under were not ideal. My family had to struggle to put food on the table and to keep us kids — 8 girls and 3 boys — in warm clothes. In fact, we had to grow everything we ate. Back in Twelve Pole Creek — in the hills of West Virginia — where I was born, we picked greens, berries, walnuts, anything that was edible. My dad worked on and off in the coal mines and on the railroad. When the depression came, we were hit pretty hard. And even though I loved my parents- I’m still very close to Mom, more so since my Dad died — I guess I just had it in mind to leave home as soon as possible and see the world. At an. early age, I found out that there was a good-size town 50 miles from where we lived, called Carmet, and you could go there and watch all the trains go by. That’s where I tasted ice cream for the first time. I discovered if I pretended my tooth was hurting real bad, I’d be taken there to see a dentist. Looking back now, I really shouldn’t have done it because they couldn’t afford it — then a tooth cost a dollar to have pulled. My heart ached to get out of the sticks. I remember a truck driver told me his daughter had a job in Washington, D.C. as a waitress. At the time even this seemed glamorous. Somehow I managed to save enough money for a bus ticket to D.C. I got a job the day I arrived.
You were a waitress when you started?
Yeah, I worked for a few weeks in the Mayflower Donut Shop, not far from the White House.
What transpired after that?
One day this gentleman comes in and tells me he has a trick horse and a cowboy that he manages. They’re working for him in a place called the Quonset Hut. He wanted to put me in show business. I guess he thought I was pretty. I had long red hair down to my waist and even then a really big chest. He put me in the show, dressed me in a red and white cowgirl outfit and told me to play the guitar, something I had done a bit as a kid. It lasted one night. I was in and out of show business in one night.
Why was that?
Well it seems his cowboy threatened to quit if I didn’t leave the show. He apparently didn’t like the way I got in and out of the guitar. I really had to twist to get my boobs through the shoulder strap. I guess I stole the spotlight away from him.
When did you actually start stripping, professionally?
The very next night. You see this gentleman was trying like crazy to get my body — I was still a virgin at the time, believe it or not. So he says, trying to keep me happy, “l’m going to make you a strip woman. I’m taking you out tomorrow evening to see a stripper, and then you’re going to go back to the Quonset Hut and take your clothes off.” We went and I watched. He kept pushing me so I said, “Okay, I’ll be a stripper lf that’s what it will take to make me famous.”
Didn’t this clash with your upbringing? After all, you had led a sheltered existence until traveling to Washington?
Well, I discovered just by being on the stage that I liked the applause and I liked people looking at me. I always told my mother some day I’m going to be somebody. I don’t know how I’m going to do it or what I’m going to be, but I’ll do it.
Weren’t you at all scared?
You couldn’t help but be nervous. My “manager,” as he called himself, bought me a gown and high-heeled shoes. I went back to the Quonset Hut and couldn’t get the shoes on. I’d practiced all day walking in them. I never had high-heeled shoes before. Anyway, I went out with the gown and no shoes and I did my thing. I shock and wiggled and the audience screamed. They loved me. After the show, this fellow says he’s planning a big party for that night and had invited several Hollywood producers. He gave me the “I’m going to get you in the movies” bit. Of course I fell for it. When we got to his house, there was nobody there. I said to myself, “Oh-oh, how am I going to get out of this one?” I never mentioned this before, but he was what you might call a filthy old man. He was playing with himself and not having seen a naked man before, I thought — well, he’ll tear me apart and nobody else will ever want me.
How did you manage to get out of this tight situation?
I said, “Okay, okay, I’ll do what you want, but let me take a bath first.” I went to the john, locked the door behind me and turned on the water in the tub while I planned my escape. While this was going on, he was banging on the door and telling me to hurry, that he couldn’t wait. I yelled back for him to take it easy, that I’d be right out. “Got to learn sometime,” I mumbled, trying to stall him. Finally I shoved a washcloth up into the hole at the top of the tub where the water’s overflow goes. I wanted to fix his ass. I climbed up to the window and pushed myself through. lf I weighed another pound, I’d never have made lt. So I got the right side out and then the left one. My behind gave me particular trouble. Anyway, I went out head first and almost broke my neck. I got a taxi and went .back to the boarding house where I was staying. By the time my “manager” found out that I had split, the water had flooded almost the whole house.
I guess this experience with a man at age 15 was not so enjoyable. What did you think after this?
I figured, if that is the way things are going to be, I’ll stay a virgin all my life.
How soon after that did you get back into performing?
Immediately. I packed my few belongings and left for Baltimore. Someone at the Quonset Hut had told me that if I really wanted to become a stripper not to pay attention to that bum; go to Baltimore where most of the girls go and start in the business. So I went. As soon as I got off the bus I went to this place, the Two O’ Clock Club, where Mr. Goodman gave me a job. Ironically, I now own this establishment.
So, you’re in Baltimore and Mr. Goodman gave you a job…
Well, I told him I want to strip. He took one look at me and said, “Lordy, you’re not even 18 years old. You’re a baby.” I started crying, after which I broke down and said, “Okay, I’m 16.” As it turned out he let me work in both his places — actually it was all part of one building; there was an upstairs and a downstairs room. I worked five shows a day and copied all the strippers. Everything they did I’d do better.
When did your first major break come?
Esquire magazine came through Baltimore in 1954, and they did a feature story on me. By then — I was 19 — I worked eight shows a day, loving every minute of it. Wished I had more to do, ’cause I truly enjoyed that stage. I still worked barefoot. As time went by, I learned to walk in high-heeled shoes, but decided against using them. I had a lot of professional-looking gowns made. After the Esquire piece came out, Mr. Goodman started getting calls from other club owners out of town who wanted to bring me to their establishments. They wanted to advertise me as The Esquire Girl.
Where did you go on tour?
I went to Philly and worked the Wedge. Julie Gibson, who was very popular in that city, had been doing a lot of publicity stunts and making the news. She went on vacation, and I filled in for her for two weeks. It was at this time that I decided I needed a gimmick. I bought a leopard, a real leopard, and dyed it black so it would look like a panther — black panthers· were impossible to obtain. It died; it swallowed a ball and it died, but it was a real pet. So I got a real Asiatic black panther from the Lewisville Animal Company in New York it was a baby and loved to eat raw steak. I called it Midnight. I had to take a female, although I wanted a male just for the sake of publicity. I paid $1150 tor. the thing.
What in the world made you decide to add a panther to the act?
I had heard about the Cat Girl in New Orleans, which I saw many years later. It was the most fabulous act that ever walked on the stage. Lily Christine was the Cat Girl and she was great. She’s dead now but she was terrific. Anyway, I figured, she’s the Cat Girl, so I’ll be the Panther Woman.
Did it work out as you planned?
The girls at the club cut my hair and I made myself a really beautiful gown. One of them was a Lesbian. I never heard of a Lesbian before. I remember her saying, “Honey, you can come and stay with me until you get a place to stay,” and all of that. I had thought nothing about sleeping with a girl before, because back at home we slept as many as three girls in a bed, and the little one at the foot of the bed. As soon as we got in the bed, she started feeling me up and I didn’t know what in hell was going on. I said, “You’re crazy,” and started crying. Next day I packed up and got the hell out of there and went to a hotel.
What happened to Midnight, the black panther? Did you have her with you all the time?
I kept her In the Majestic Hotel with me. Then, one day the cat got out. It wasn’t a publicity stunt, like everyone figured. See, those old hotels had these little ledges. Panthers can jump like 20 feet- even babies like Midnight- and by that time she weighed about 40 pounds. They had no air-conditioning at the Majestic, so I had left the window open a crack. This is how she got away. I got calls from everywhere — the cat’s attacking some kids; the cat jumped on a truck and rode down the highway; Midnight had been seen in the suburbs ten miles from Philly. It ended when she found her way to a pet shop where they had ocelots. I suppose she was horny. At about this time, Philly’s Police Captain Frank Rizzo — now mayor- decided he didn’t want me in town. He got real mad, and I guess he had a thing for me. So I left Philly and headed for Manhattan.
Here I snuck into the Forrest Hotel with the panther, and went to work at the Continental Burlesque House on 52nd Street. All hell broke lose a few days later when I had to return to Philadelphia for a show. I didn’t plan on staying more than one night — Midnight was locked up in the bathroom back in New York City — but Rizzo had other ideas. He arrested me for sin and indecent exposure which meant I had to show up in court.
the sexual Behavior of strippers
Believing that there’s no better way to find out about a girl than by asking her, Modern Man went to one of the top name gals in the strip tease business and put it to her straight: “How about your sex life?” We figured that the worst that could happen when we asked temptress Blaze Starr would be that she would say “No.” Being modern men in every sense of the word, we have been told “No” before and just moved on to the next lassie.
But Blaze surprised us and said “Yes.” Sure, she would be happy to tell us about the sexual behavior of strippers and that’s what she does as candidly and frankly as a gal can in her article on Page 28 . And to show what she’s talking about, Blaze displayed what she’s talking about in the beautiful color photograph of herself that runs in our center spread this month. We know her provocative article will be a treat to modern men — and much talked about, too. It settles once and for all some of the backroom arguments about the lovelies who parade their charms in the altogether for millions of menfolk across the nation.
Did anyone know the panther was in your hotel suite?
They quickly found out. It seems Midnight had turned on the water in the shower and flooded a whole side of the hotel. Nobody would go into the room because the cat was in there screaming her damn brains out. All the steam from the hot water must have scared her. When I came back from Philly, where I was found innocent of whatever the hell it was that Rizzo was charging me with, I had a subpoena slapped in my face. The hotel was suing me for messing up their place. Luckily, Robert Sylvester gave me a whole column with a little drawing of Midnight. Nobody knew that when I went in to get the cat, she jumped on my neck and bit me on the eyebrow. Later I had the scar removed. Finally, I had to call the same animal company and they came and got her. The animal trainer came with a cage, and I sold her back to them for $550, and that was the end of the Panther Woman.
How much were you making a night in those days?
It averaged out to about $400 a week.
How did that compare with your first night as a stripper?
The first night in Washington you couldn’t count, because the guy promised he’d pay me on the weekend. He planned to take it out in trade — that’s what he was planning to do. When I started out at the Two O’Clock Club, I was getting a $1 per show.
Burlesque’s New Stripper Stars
Sexy, sophisticated Blaze Starr symbolizes the arrival of a new crop of star strip-teasers on the burlesque circuits. Ask any man-about-town to name the famous headliners of the bump-and-grinds, and chances are he’ll mention Gypsy Rose Lee, Sherry Britton, Lili St. Cyr, Ann Corio, and all the other big names. Well, he’d be right, of course; but he wouldn’t necessarily be up-to-date. For across the country new names, new faces, new—well, news stars are leading the parade down strip runways. On these and the following pages we’ll see one of the brightest. Remember the name: Blaze Starr. Blaze, now in her 20’s, was born in Wilsondale, West Va. Her best friend? A miniature French poodle, Peaches. She loves to do housework, but hates to wax floors. Believe it or not, Blaze’s favorite dish is spaghetti. For thrills, Blaze hunts jaguar in Mexico. As a star, Blaze now earns $750 a week. Vital statistics: 5’6″; 120 lbs.; red hair, brown eyes; measures 38-24-37.
How did you work your way down to New Orleans?
After I worked Philadelphia and Rizzo gave me so much hell — he arrested me time after time — I decided I had a pretty big name. Every time he would arrest me, I would make the inside front pages of the local tabloids.
You were getting quite a bit of publicity and word spread?
I was getting loads of publicity. So now the theatre circuit — burlesque theatre circuit — was big. I kept making the rounds of the Continental on the upper west side of Manhattan and the Heat Wave in New York City’s Greenwich Village. I’d even go to the West Coast once in a while. Eventually I went to Miami to work. During 1958 I spent the whole winter in Florida. While there, I met Frank Grayson who owned the Sho-Bar and the 500 and tour other clubs in New Orleans. He gave me a contract that offered $1,000 a week for six weeks. It was top pay. There were only two other gals making more than me. That was Lily Christine and Lily St. Cyr. So I went to New Orleans from Miami in January, 1959.
What was the reception you got there?
I got arrested the first night. Frankly, looking back, I probably just got busted to spite Rizzo. I wanted him to know I could make the papers anywhere I went. In court they told the judge I was doing an indecent show, even though I kept on my pasties, bra and panties. He was briefed on how I crawled all over my red velvet couch, screaming and carrying on. The first week at the Sho-Bar I met Earl Long — he was the Governor of Louisiana — and he got me a full pardon. He even made them take the arrest off my record, and made certain I didn’t have to appear in court.
Scamp Magazine. Vol. 4, No. 3, November 1960.
How did you meet Earl?
It was nothing for him to come into a club and sit all night. He knew all the girls. Keep in mind that this was really burlesque. We had the comics, the whole bit. For relief, they even had black acts. This one guy did pantomime — Willy — you’d be so delighted with the way he worked that you’d throw Willy money. And you’d get Mama, the old black lady who was 92. She would get up and sing ” When The Saints Go Marching In.” The audience would throw her money too; that’s how they made their living. It was wonderful. Just like working a legitimate theater. It was a thrill to go up there on stage.
Are you the reason that Earl Long’s family tried to have him committed?
Definitely, without a shadow of a doubt. I met him and I started seeing him immediately, but nobody knew it.
What kind of relationship did the two of you have?
We’d do silly things like young lovers do. You know, go on rides and go on picnics. We’d like to get away from all pressures and sit out in the bayou and get lost for a while. We’d just sit there and talk. Earl knew in his mind that he was going to die soon. He knew he was very ill. He had a bad heart and he had a respiratory problem in his lungs. I guess he figured he was sort of reliving his childhood with me. He used to talk a lot about his mother and his two elderly sisters and his childhood and so on. We had a great time, and then Miss Blanche found out. …
Miss Blanche was, I take it, his wife?
See, he wasn’t sleeping with her. He lived In the mansion, but she lived in one end and he lived in the other. Since Earl was the Governor, he realized they had to make it look good. So he started having a good time with me and he got attached to me. We didn’t have sex very often. The man was 62. Like once a month was a miracle. I wasn’t dating anybody. I just broke up with my husband.
You had been married all this time?
Yeah, I was with my husband 10 years, but he was Catholic. He had divorced his wife for me, and got excommunicated from the church. So I hung in there for the sake of his family, although we were separated half of the time we were married, even while I was working in Philly. So, after Miss Blanche had found out, she just started demanding Earl not to see me anymore. She told him his career would be ruined. In response, he just told her that he wouldn’t come around to the house anymore. We lived at a motel, and once these two guys came over and she was with them. They had this big cross-tie from the big square tire you buy at a lumber yard. Right through the door it came. My sister had a room, I had a room and Earl had a room . Miss Blanche never knocked on the door, she went right through. I was in the middle room sewing and Earl was in one of the other rooms taking a nap. He got real hysterical, grabbed his heart and was gasping for breath. Then he went outside, screaming, dressed only in his shorts, which looked terrible in her eyes. Here he was dressed in his underwear, waving his arms and yelling at the top of his lungs.
And then things got real bad. Somebody told the newspapers and his opponents started up that Earl was crazy. They followed me and would watch me. Earl didn’t seem to care. He even got us an apartment where we really would have running room. You could travel in the halls and hide anywhere. His opponents were out to crucify him but he wasn’t going to change for them, Miss Blanche or nobody. Suddenly, one day, he started getting terribly ill, to the point that he would double up in pain and perspire and cry. He told me, ” Blaze, I think those bastards are trying to kill me.” And he would vomit blood. One day, he got so bad that me and Polly, this barmaid at the Sho-Bar, took him to the hospital, out near the airport — he didn’t want to go. There, they pumped his stomach and found all kinds of barbiturates in him.
Somebody was actually trying to poison him?
They had someone putting something in his coke, because that’s the only thing he would drink. He didn’t believe in booze, even though the papers said he used to drink a lot.
Could his drinks have been spiked by somebody in the Sho-Bar?
No, no, he didn’t drink anything in the bar; he didn’t even drink coke there. At the mansion he was getting it, because every time he went back, he would get deathly sick. So it had to be someone close to him. It’s like Watergate or like all the assassinations. You want something done, you can do it. It got to the point where he didn’t know what to do or who to trust. He refused to eat. After he quit eating at the mansion, he got a whole lot better. He even held a meeting with De Gaulle while the French leader was in town. One day Earl had a lot of business to do so he had to go back home. He had only been there a few hours when he called hysterically, saying he couldn’t remember anything. It was probably LSD, but then nobody had heard of it. He really threw a fit and started breaking things. Of course, it was well planned. He got so sick, they came and put him in a white coat. I was told later that he looked up and everybody was there but me. He started screaming, “Where’s Blaze, I want to see Blaze!” He didn’t trust his own doctor, who, it was rumored, had been dating Miss Blanche for two years. He told me later they said, “You won’t leave her” — meaning me — “so we’re going to put you where you belong, and Russell” — his brother — “is going to run for Governor, and we’re going to control the entire state.”
Did they lock him up?
You bet they did. The Long family controlled Louisiana for many years. So they put him in the nuthouse. He was really physically ill from all the shit they were giving him — pardon my language. He got worse and worse because his system was really run-down. They put him in right with the nuts. One guy pushed Earl up against the wall and started pointing his fingers. Earl cried, “You can’t do that to me, I’m Earl K. Long, the Governor of this state.” And he — the other man-said, “Well, I’m Eisenhower!” With that, Earl sat down and realized he had to get out.
What did he do?
He bribed some guards to let him call me at the Sho-Bar. He told them, “I got to call my lady-friend.” They knew Earl was phoning me. He gave me people to contact and they pulled the strings to get him out. When he got out he fired the doctor, he fired everybody. He fired the lawyers, he filed for a legal separation and announced to the world that he was going to marry me. One night Earl called an audience at the Sho-Bar and gave me this giant diamond — a great big one. It cost him around $9,000. I accepted his proposal of marriage and then all hell broke loose. The papers strung him up; everybody crucified him. Earl knew he couldn’t even run for dog-catcher.
About his being crazy, didn’t you admit in print that he would often do peculiar things in public?
After they had him locked up he said, “They all think I’m crazy. I know they’re watching every move I make to see what I’ll do.” In a very exclusive restaurant like Antonio’s, he’d take his false teeth out. He’d order a glass of water and put his teeth in it while we ate. Another time he asked for a paper bag and put it over his head, cutting holes out for his eyes and nose. Since everybody was seeing him as crazy anyway, he wanted to give them something real to talk about.
He still wanted to be in politics though. He had aspirations for running to be senator or a congressman?
He ran as Lieutenant Governor on the ticket with somebody else and they lost, but not by very many votes. So then, Earl decided to run for Congress. I told him he was crazy. With that he snapped, “Don’t you ever say that to me! Too many people have said that.” I calmed him down, told him I didn’t mean it in the way they did: “I meant crazy for thinking you could win.” Sure enough, he ran for Congress and he won. Earl died a couple of days later.
I guess you were pretty upset — heartbroken?
Of course I was heartbroken. When he didn’t call, I knew something had happened. That night I really was tired. I turned on the radio the next morning, and there it was ….
Do you think his death was accidental or…?
His death was an accident because he was physically ill, and the pressure of all the campaigning and knowing that everybody was thinking he was crazy. Shortly before he died, he went and made out a new will. He left me $50,000. But the will didn’t count because he’d already been in the nut-house. Miss Blanche did more to control that state and get more people in high-placed jobs than he did. Well anyway, he died, and I got a lawyer to try and get me what was coming to me. They just laughed. So that was that. I went to the funeral. I didn’t get anything!
John F. Kennedy shook my hand and said, “You did a fine show, Miss Starr — very good.” I was so scared, I couldn’t speak.
I understand that one night, while working the Sho-Bar, the Kennedy’s — both Jackie and John — came in to see you perform.
It was January of 1960. I had just stepped out in front of the spotlights, when in marched David Brinkley and Sam Rayburn, with John and Jackie Kennedy. They went right upstairs to a reserved table and sat down next to Earl. I knew in my heart this handsome young man was going to be our next President. After I got finished on stage, Earl introduced me to everyone, and John shook my hand and said, “You did a fine show, Miss Starr — very good.” I was so scared, I couldn’t speak. Earl scolded me, jokingly, and said I’d better treat this fellow real nice, as he was going to be in the White House soon. I sat at their table while they watched the next performance. Then Jackie got up in a huff and a puff — didn’t say anything — and left. Two aides followed her down the stairs. I leaned over the balcony rail and watched as they all rushed out of the club. Kennedy said his goodnights real quick-like, and hustled off in the dark after her. You couldn’t hear what they had been saying. I don’t know if they had an argument, or she just wanted to leave.
Was that the only time you saw them?
The only time.
I suppose I can take It for granted that you get lots of offers for dates from the guys who come to your club?
Yes, but I’ll be honest with you, I’m a one-man woman. I like one guy at a time. If I catch him cheating on me, I realize that he didn’t love me in the first place; that he wants to flash me around because I’m Blaze Starr, or he wants to see what he can get out of me. So I literally beat the hell out of him and it’s over. Sometimes I get a few licks back in the process.
Have you ever met any guys who wanted, you know, to do weird things?
I want you to understand I was never a hooker. But in my line of work you meet a lot of fellows, and some of them carry around big money which they aren’t afraid to spend on a girl they like. I’m not ashamed to say I’ve dated a fair share of wealthy gentlemen, several of whom have purchased beautiful gifts for me. Recently I ran into a guy in Baltimore who owns a department store there — one of the largest. He was a close friend 15 years ago, but now he acted like he hardly knew me. Well, let me tell you — he must have bought me, I can safely say, 15 pairs of beautiful spike-heeled shoes. He wanted me to place tacks in the heels and then walk around on his naked body. At first I just laughed, and then one day he said, “Blaze, if you knew what a kick I got out of this, you’d get a thrill out of it, too.” Anyway, I got a good $200 worth of shoes before he realized I wasn’t going to put them to the use he had intended them for.
What are your feelings in general on the more liberated attitudes toward today’s [1975] sex?
Well, I’m old fashioned in a lot of ways. Like I say, I get one guy, and would never take off my clothes and walk around in front of him. It’s just how I am. And I’d tell somebody this and they would laugh. I get naked in the dark, maybe with a beautiful red candle going in the corner, but not to get up and walk around in front of him. With a lot of people today, their thing is having a party and it’s not a hip gathering unless you show dirty movies. So I don’t go to parties in Baltimore much, though I get invited to loads of them. I went to this one affair and everybody was having a grand ol’ time, and it was all filled with high-class people. They had one room all set up and had these colored films going. You could tell they had been taken very recently. They had exploits like Ring around the Rosy, Horse and Girl, two dogs fightin’g over a girl, and supposedly one dog won the girl. These were made quite professionally. I wound up in a corner watching, especially these people… they were going out of their minds watching it. I’m not going to be a party pooper, so when I left, I told the host what a great party it had been.
Have you seen Deep Throat or Devil in Miss Jones?
No, I haven’t. I’ll tell you one thing — I made an “art” film once, and that was the cause of my divorce. I got paid $10,000. It took nearly three months to make, so I lost on the deal — bad weather in Miami at the time. We did it at a nudist camp and called it Blaze Starr Goes Nude. It was in my contract that there were to be no shots showing hair. The plot stunk — it was lousy — and I wasn’t told until later that it wasn’t done with live sound. They had a girl with a voice like Marilyn Monroe. This was more than ten years ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if they brought it out again.
Blaze Starr Goes Nudist (1962)
“Well Blaze was working at a club in Miami Beach and I thought to approach her and see if she’d be in a film. So I went to the club to speak with her and it turned out she was very excited about doing it. Then I got Ralph Young of Sandler and Young. I knew Ralph accidentally, actually. He had an agent in the same building that I used to work in when I was in distribution in New York and we became friendly. So I asked Ralph if he’d be in the film too and he said he would. Blaze was very cooperative. She was really a gem.” Doris Wishman, interview by Michael Bowen. Psychotronic Video, No. 26, 1997.
You’ve had boyfriends who have been all the way up in the government. Did you date Spiro Agnew?
Spiro used to come into the 2 O’Clock Club, once a week. He always sat in the exact same corner. To this day we call it Agnew’s booth. I’d love to put up an engraved plaque in his honor, but I don’t dare.
What do you think of woman’s liberation? Is it demasculinizing men?
Well, I’ve always been liberated, ever since I beat my sister’s husband half to death for hitting her. At the time, I said no man is ever going to lay a hand on me or order me around, or mistreat me, or yell at me, or belittle me. And nobody is going to make me sit home and play the dutiful housewife.
Would you ever give up your career for a man?
If I met a man who could support me I’d give it up, because I have myself financially set on the side — which I would never let him know about.
Do you still perform regularly at your own club?
Yes, sir. I do three shows a night. And, believe you me, that place is a madhouse.
Has business picked up recently? I know in your biography, as told to Huey Perry, you mention that a flood nearly wiped you out for a long while.
Well, the block has really changed in the last year. It had changed previous to that for the bad. Not that I have anything against homosexuals, but you know they were looking better than my girls, and that hurt. And the clubs were just overloaded with odd — bad — types. People were getting robbed and murdered. It was unbelievable.
What happened to help change this situation?
I knew better than to open my mouth, so I just closed the club. Finally, after I shut my doors, seven months later the vice squad was sent in from Washington and they really cleaned that town up. Now it’s safe to walk down the streets.
Did the Feds hassle the club-owners at all?
Hassle them! They stationed people in them for weeks. You know, they stationed undercover people In the joints to really see what was going on. Most of the clubs were cut up and had those famous back rooms. The Feds didn’t bother with the girls or the guys. They just wanted to crack down on organized crime.
Had they gained control of the city’s clubs?
Well, for a while I’m sure they did. But then they had an organized crime war. I didn’t ask questions. I just listened and did my thing, and they all treated me like a lady.
Did they ever try to get you to sell out?
At one point, they tried to force me to sell my business. This new boss, Bernie Brown, had just come in from Philadelphia and was buying up everything on the strip. My place is the biggest in town. Being down in the basement, you could easily install a buzzer system to let people know when the cops were waiting at the top of the stairs, planning a raid. I informed Bernie right there that I wasn’t scared and that I had no intentions of being bought out — I don’t like to be pressured. I figured he would be real mad, but the wind-up was that he said, “Blaze, we need you to draw the suckers onto the block anyway, so we won’t bother you anymore. But when they come out of your joint, we’ll lure them into ours.”
About a year ago Sammy Goldstein, the owner of a neighboring establishment, was murdered in true gangland fashion. They found him dead with his brains blown out. Apparently there had been a rival underworld war in progress over gambling junkets, and the opposition had sent a “hit man” in from the coast to rub Sammy out. According to widely published accounts, Bernie Brown was indicted for the slaying. But before he could be brought before the grand jury, he went home one night and took an overdose of sleeping pills. So now the two heads of everything are gone and the clubs are, in general, owned by a whole new, much younger, crowd.
I have been able to stay straight. In my profession you can go downhill in a hurry. You can get destroyed real quick in the night club business. Alcohol, dope addicts, prostitutes — the temptation is always there.
Were watered-down drinks being served in a lot of establishments?
That was definitely proven. They have one guy who’s called “the little old wine-maker.” His job is to mix all the champagne with 7-Up. After he’s done this, he puts the cork back on — they even have “corkers” to do this — and nobody knows the difference. It looks one hundred per cent legit. Several of the owners got time, plus heavy fines. The turnover is so large that you buy Cutty Sark or J & B and it runs $6 a bottle. Well, now you can buy “bar liquor” and it’s $3 a bottle. So your turnover, say, on your liquor bill is $10,000 a year and by the end of the year, by using the cheap liquor and changing it in the bottle, you save $5,000 on your expenses.
Have there been occasions when a girl who works for you might hustle a customer on the side?
I have four house girls, regulars. They work at my club steady and live in town. In addition, since I like to keep the show moving, I have four outside gals who I get through a theatrical agency. It’s a good idea to have new faces. Now I suppose some of these girls go out with the customers. I’ve always told them — made it a policy: If you do it for money, I don’t want to know. This way no one will ever call me Madame. Frequently I will see the same gentlemen coming through the front door, so I figure they must have had a nice time at breakfast.
I understand that a lot of your clientele is made up of couples. Doesn’t this appear peculiar to you? It would seem that a sizeable percentage of your customers would be single men.
A lot of the single men go to the other establishments where the girls take off every stitch, where they can maneuver in and out of the back room and get whatever they want. Mine is a theatrical place and I take good pride in putting on a theatrical show. Men know if they take their wives or girl friends to see my show they won’t be embarrassed. Some people would never think of traveling to Baltimore without stopping in to the club and saying hello.
Finally, what do you consider your greatest achievement in life?
That I have been able to stay straight. In my profession you can go downhill in a hurry. You can get destroyed real quick in the night club business. Alcohol, dope addicts, prostitutes — the temptation is always there.
Source: Hustler Magazine, February 1975 (Vol. 1, No. 8).
The Forbidden Book of Beauty 