She was a stripper. She was a burlesque star. She was the mistress of one of Louisiana’s most prominent politicians.
Blaze Starr lived her life like an erotic dream and her life was as wild as her dance routines. She was one of the most popular burlesque acts of her time and is still considered a sex symbol to this day.
As one can expect, her life wasn’t without controversy – and for us onlookers, that’s perhaps what made it interesting. But who was Blaze Starr? How did she become a starlet and what was her life like?
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EARLY LIFE AND CAREER
The rather small county of Wayne County, West Virginia, increased its population on April 10, 1932, when Fannie Belle Fleming was born.
She was the second child of her parents and would later become the second of 11 children! Her parents were Lora Fleming and Goodlow Fleming. Little is known about her family background, but one can expect that she came from humble beginnings. It seems that she also had a troubled childhood.
She left home in her teens after she was gang raped. No doubt, the trauma made her want to escape her hometown and find a new home where she could live in peace and live freely.
She moved to the small town of Logan and found a job as a carhop. This was a waitress who would stop by a car and serve food from a fast-food joint. This was the original type of curbside pickup – and it was often young and beautiful women who were hired for such jobs. She eventually saved up to move to Washington D.C. and eventually found a job at a doughnut shop.
One day, a customer named Red Snyder came in. He was a show business promoter and took notice of Fannie Belle’s beauty. He told her that she was beautiful and that she had a promising career in show business. He then offered her an opportunity that would change her life…
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BLAZE STARR
Fannie Belle was given the opportunity to become a stripper. She performed on stage after Red Snyder got her a gig. She was so nervous during her first time that she often covered her body with her cowboy hat. She was so shocked by entering show business that she even threw up after this first performance ended.
But she wasn’t dismayed by stripping. She was excited and nervous at the same time. She knew that she had what it took to succeed in this career and that it could promise her a better life.
Red Snyder became her manager and booked her stripping gigs. He also gave Fannie Belle the nickname, Blaze Starr – which is how she became known for the rest of her life.
She eventually moved to Baltimore and began performing at nightclubs throughout the city. She soon became one of the most popular burlesque dancers in the city and eventually was featured in an article in Esquire Magazine.
She was not only lauded for her beauty but also her on-stage antics. One of her most notorious antics was when she would sit on a sofa and smoke would come out of the sofa – giving the impression that it was on fire.
She became so popular that men would flock to Baltimore just to see her. She even got arrested twice for lewdness – that’s how famous she had become! She had certainly come a long way from her simple beginnings in West Virginia.
In 1956, she was interviewed for a documentary called Buxom Beautese. Two years later, she was the subject of a short video in which she performed a striptease for the camera.
Throughout the 1960s, she had guest appearances on popular TV shows including The Les Crane Show and The Mike Douglas Show. Her profile continued to grow and she was as much a star as any movie actress – though she herself only appeared in one 1962 film, entitled “Blaze Starr Goes Nudist.”
But, as one can expect…a life with such glamour was not without certain controversies…
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THE DANCER…AND THE GOVERNOR
In the 1950s, Blaze Starr was performing at nightclubs throughout New Orleans – which was one of the cities where she’d get charged with lewdness! During this time, she met Earl Long – a man almost 40 years his senior. She began a relationship with him despite the fact that he was married.
Oh, and by the way, Earl Long was also the 45th Governor of the State of Louisiana!
Earl Long first ran for Governor in 1932 – the very year that Blaze Starr was born! He lost and didn’t have the support of his brother Huey Long who was wrapping up his term as the state’s Governor – and was now ready to serve as a Senator.
After many unsuccessful attempts, he was elected as Governor in 1948. This became a controversy as some thought that his political connections through his brother gave him an unfair advantage. Almost all politicians have to expect some sort of controversy during their lives.
Earl Long already had controversy with his political connections. Now, to add salt to the wounds, it was soon found out that he was in a relationship with a young stripper named Blaze Starr – even though he was already married!
Once the public found out about the relationship it caused a huge stir and put Earl Long’s political career into jeopardy. But, eventually, Earl Long managed to continue his career – though he remained troubled. He had mental health issues and his wife even tried to confine him to an insane asylum.
Blaze Starr never seemed to have lost her love for Earl Long. After he died, she had placed a rose in his casket. She had pulled this rose from her breasts.
She wrote extensively about their relationship in her autobiography Blaze Starr: My Life as Told to Huey Perry. This autobiography served as the inspiration for the 1989 film Blaze – which told the story of Blaze Starr’s and Earl Long’s relationship. Paul Newman played Earl Long while Lolita Davidovich played Blaze Starr. Blaze Starr herself made a cameo appearance in the film as a character named ‘Lily.’
BLAZE STARR’S LIFE AND LEGACY
In the 1970s, Blaze Starr was entering her thirties and life was becoming a bit more challenging. She was now divorced from her only husband Carroll Glorioso – a nightclub owner.
She was also struggling to find work as often as she used to. Pornography was becoming more popular throughout the United States and even everyday American cinema was pushing the boundaries in terms of explicit sexual content.
Strippers were now performing fully nude, and Blaze Starr wasn’t comfortable with this at all. Her work slowed down tremendously as a result.
To make matters worse, her home in Baltimore had been severely damaged by a hurricane and she was experiencing financial woes. There were also cruel media publications which stated that she wasn’t as beautiful as she was and that her body wasn’t in the best shape.
Nevertheless, she was determined to secure financial freedom for herself. Her autobiography was a huge success and she managed to collect great royalties from it.
She later bought the building which housed one of the nightclubs that she used to perform in. She managed to earn a lucrative income from renting out the property. All the years in show business gave her street smarts and despite her limited formal education, she had a keen business sense.
She even started a successful jewelry business. She first opened a physical store and then adapted, many years later, to the digital age and transitioned to selling jewelry online!
She eventually retired and returned to her native West Virginia. Her smart business investments managed to keep her afloat for the rest of her life. And in West Virginia she managed to live in a comfortable compound spanning over 80 acres!
Back in West Virginia, she lived a wonderful life with her siblings and their children. She returned to the state that she once fled – perhaps thinking at the time that she’d never look back.
But she was welcomed back home and she must have felt tremendous peace being away from the glamour of her previous life. But she never completely escaped her career. She was always remembered as an icon of the burlesque movement and often gave interviews discussing her career. She was featured in the 2010 documentary Behind the Burly Q – one of the most popular documentaries about the burlesque craze in the USA.
Even in 1990, when she was in her early 50s, she was cast as a stripper in the film On the Block. Even after she stepped away from the limelight, she was never forgotten. She remains an inspiration for aspiring dancers, models, and actresses today.
Her beginnings were simple, but Blaze Starr lived her life like an erotic dream. She passed away on June 15, 2015, at the age of 83 in Wilsondale, West Virginia. She had been suffering from heart problems. She had her family by her side and news of her death brought back an interest in her life and career.
So, now let’s hear from you:
Are you a fan of Blaze Starr? Did you know about any of these facts?
In fact, here’s what we want to know from you:
Do you think that we still find burlesque starlets fascinating today?
Or have they now been replaced by models who become famous via new media?
Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments.
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