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Dita Von Teese -

Born Heather Renée Sweet in 1972 in West Branch, Michigan, Dita Von Teese is arguably the world's most famous burlesque dancer at present.

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Dita Von Teese -

Dita Von Teese classically trained as a ballet dancer before becoming a glamour model and ultimately the "Queen of Burlesque."

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Dita Von Teese -

Dita Von Teese has appeared in a number of movies, series, and reality TV shows, in addition to her work as a model and her participation in a number of fashion shows. She was also famously married to Marilyn Manson from 2005 to 2007.

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Catherine D'lish -

Catherine D'lish is one of the most prominent neo-burlesque performers of all time.

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Catherine D'lish -

D'lish not only is an icon in the burlesque scene, but she's also Dita Von Teese's mentor and even created some of her costumes. "She's taught me everything I know and is the person who coaches me," said Dita Von Teese.

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Catherine D'lish -

Catherine D'lish won Miss Exotic World in 1992 and 1994. She now owns a luxury loungewear brand.

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Josephine Baker -

Freda Josephine McDonald, aka Josephine Baker, was an American burlesque performer who found great success in Paris in the 1920s.

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Josephine Baker -

The "Bronze Venus" became a Roaring Twenties icon. Her show at the legendary cabaret music hall Folies Bergère was often sold out.

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Josephine Baker -

Josephine Baker was a true performer. She worked as a dancer, singer, and actress.

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Mistinguett -

Born Jeanne Florentine Bourgeois in France, Mistinguett was an actress and singer who became hugely successful at the turn of the 20th century.

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Mistinguett -

The French actress and singer began her career as a flower seller who sang ballads at a restaurant.

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Mistinguett -

Mistinguett went on to perform at the biggest venues in Paris, and at one point it's believed that she became the highest-paid female performer in the world.

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Lydia Thompson -

Lydia Thompson was born in London. She began her career performing in pantomimes in the UK and across Europe.

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Lydia Thompson -

Thompson introduced Victorian burlesque to America. She toured the US in 1868 with the "British Blondes."

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Gypsy Rose Lee -

Gypse Rose Lee was born Rose Louise Hovick in 1911 in Seattle. Lee initially became famous as a Minsky's Burlesque (a brand of American burlesque) performer.

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Gypsy Rose Lee -

Gypsy Rose Lee then went to Hollywood, where she starred in a number of movies (billed as Louise Hovick), before dedicating herself to exotic dancing.

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Gypsy Rose Lee -

Gypsy Rose Lee went on to write a memoir that was later turned into a stage musical and a movie. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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Sally Rand -

Sally Rand began her career as a chorus girl in a theater. She then studied ballet and drama, and decided to pack her bags and go to Hollywood.

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Sally Rand -

Sally Rand went on to star in a number of movies, but it was her risqué burlesque performances that made her famous.

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Sally Rand -

Rand is credited with inventing an erotic dance known as the "bubble dance" in the 1930s.

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Tempest Storm -

Tempest Storm (born Annie Blanche Banks) was an American actress and burlesque performer. She began her career as a chorus dancer and then moved into striptease.

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Tempest Storm -

Annie Banks changed her name to Tempest Storm in 1957. She went on to perform in a number of venues, as well as appearing in magazines.

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Tempest Storm -

"The Queen Of Exotic Dancers" worked as an exotic dancer for more than 60 years. She retired in 1995, but continued to perform occasionally up until 2012. She died in 2021, aged 93.

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Lili St. Cyr -

Marie Frances Van Schaack, better known as Lili St. Cyr, trained as a ballet dancer before starting a career as a burlesque performer.

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Lili St. Cyr -

Lili St. Cyr starred in a few movies in the 1950s, but it was as a burlesque performer that she gained notoriety.

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Lili St. Cyr -

Lili St. Cyr had a number of successful acts, including "The Wolf Woman," "Afternoon of a Faun," and "The Ballet Dancer." Lili St. Cyr was also a pinup model.

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Yvonne Ménard -

Yvonne Ménard was a French burlesque dancer and a star of the Parisian cabaret music hall Folies Bergère.

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Yvonne Ménard -

Not only was Yvonne Ménard a star in the French capital, she also took her acts abroad to the US. Yvonne Ménard even starred in a number of movies.

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Sherry Britton -

Sherry Britton (born Edith Zack in 1918) was a successful American burlesque dancer of the 1930s and 1940s.

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Sherry Britton -

Britton performed in a number of clubs and theaters. Later she starred in a number of plays, and went on to entertain troops abroad during World War II.

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Faith Bacon -

Faith Bacon was an American burlesque dancer and actress. Bacon began her career in Paris in the 1920s, and then returned to the US. She was billed as "America's Most Beautiful Dancer." 

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Tura Satana -

The Japanese-American actress and dancer is best known for starring in the 1965 movie 'Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'

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Tura Satana -

While she's best known for her acting career, Satana also found success as an exotic dancer for many years.

Sources: (Dance Poise) (City Dance Studios) (Service95)

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The most famous burlesque dancers of all time -

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