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The phrase "Blaze Star" was sometimes used for the recurring nova T Coronae Borealis

Blaze Starr (born Fannie Belle Fleming, January 1, 1932) is an American former stripper and American burlesque star. Her vivacious presence and inventive use of stage props earned her the nickname "The Hottest Blaze in Burlesque". She was also known for her affair with Louisiana governor Earl Long. The 1989 film Blaze was based on her memoir.

Early life[link]

Starr was born in rural Wilsondale, West Virginia, to Lora Evans and Goodlow Mullins (later changed to Fleming). Fleming left home at age fifteen in 1947,^[1] and moved to Washington D.C. where Red Snyder discovered her either working in a doughnut shop (according to her autobiography) or as a hat check girl (according to other sources).

Snyder became Fleming's first manager, encouraged her to start stripping, and gave her the stage name Blaze Starr. After he attempted to rape her, however, Starr left Snyder.

Starr moved to Baltimore, Maryland where she began performing at the Two O'Clock Club nightclub in 1950, eventually becoming its headliner.^[1] Starr rose to national renown after she was profiled in a February 1954 Esquire magazine article, "B-Belles of Burlesque: You Get Strip Tease With Your Beer in Baltimore". The Two O'Clock Club remained her home base, but she began to travel and perform in clubs throughout the country.

Career[link]

Starr's striking red hair, voluptuous figure and on-stage enthusiasm were a large part of her appeal. The theatrical flourishes and unique gimmicks she used in her stage show went beyond established burlesque routines like the fan dance and balloon dance.^{[citation needed]}

Perhaps her most famous prop was a couch that she rigged to smolder and then appear to burst into flame as she sat on it and undressed.^{[citation needed]}

Relationship with Earl Long[link]

In the late 1950s, while working at the Sho-Bar on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, Starr began a long-term affair with then-governor Earl Long. Starr was in the process of divorcing her husband, club owner Carroll Glorioso, and Long was married to the state's first lady, known colloquially as Miz Blanche. Starr and Long's relationship, invoked as one reason for Long being involuntarily committed to a mental hospital, lasted until his death in 1960. In his will, Long left her $50,000, which she refused to accept.^{[citation needed]}

Media appearances[link]

Two of Starr's performances, including the combustible sofa, are among the burlesque routines featured in the 1956 compilation film Buxom Beautease, produced and directed by Irving Klaw.

Director Doris Wishman's 1962 film Blaze Starr Goes Nudist, a nudie-sexploitation film, features Starr's one lead movie role. As the title suggests, she plays herself. The film is also known as Blaze Starr Goes Back to Nature, Blaze Starr Goes Wild, Blaze Starr the Original, and Busting Out.

Diane Arbus photographed Starr in 1964. The photo "Blaze Starr at home" was included in the book and traveling exhibit Diane Arbus: Family Albums.

The 1989 movie Blaze recounts the story of their relationship. It was directed by Ron Shelton, adapted by him from Starr's 1974 memoir Blaze Starr: My Life as Told to Huey Perry. Lolita Davidovich portrays Starr in the movie, and Paul Newman plays Long. Starr herself appears in a cameo role.

Personal life[link]

Starr eventually bought the Two O'Clock Club on The Block in Baltimore, Maryland. Some of her costumes and other memorabilia have been displayed at the Museum of Sex in New York City and the Burlesque Hall of Fame. In the early 1980s, Starr made an appearance at the Mitchell Brothers' O'Farrell Theatre in San Francisco, California.^{[citation needed]} Semi-retired since 1975, she finally retired from stripping for good in 1983, to become a full-time gemologist. She had dabbled in that occupation part-time since 1975, and spent several holiday seasons selling hand-crafted jewelry at the Carrolltowne Mall in Eldersburg, Maryland, near Baltimore.^[2] Starr currently conducts jewelry sales with a brother from her website. Starr is also the cousin of onetime country/western music singer Molly O'Day.^{[3][unreliable source?]}

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Starr, Blaze and Perry, Huey (1974). Blaze Starr: My Life As Told to Huey Perry. New York: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-19920-3

External links[link]

• Blaze Starr at the Internet Movie Database

It has been suggested that Behind the Nudist Curtain be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since December 2011.

Doris Wishman (June 1, 1912 – August 10, 2002) was an American film director, screenwriter, film producer

Early life[link]

Doris Wishman was born on June 1, 1912, in New York City. She was still a child when her mother died. Her father was a hay and grain salesmen who raised her and her five other siblings. ^[1]Wishman studied for awhile at Hunter College where she studied several courses including acting. She then worked as both a secretary and a movie booker until she met and then married a man by the name of Jack Abrahms. After Abrahms died, Wishman wanted to do something in her life that we keep her busy instead of being a grieving widow.

Early film career[link]

Despite being the cousin of one of the founders of the famous British Horror production companies, Amicus, Max Rosenberg, Wishman decided that she wanted to go into the film business on her own. recent legislation allowed to let nudity be seen in film in the context of Documentary footage. Wishman then borrowed $10,000 from her sister, Pearl Kushner. Her first feature was a film by the name of Hideout in the Sun in 1959. Her next film Nude on the Moon released in 1960 was an early Nudie film, which Wishman featured Science Fiction elements in it. The film was banned in New York State as the censor board stated that films featuring nudity in a Nudist Colony setting is fine; But the fact that Wishman decided to make it a science fiction themed film on a Nudist colony on the Moon was not fine. ^[2]Her next films included the starring for the legendary Burlesque performer, Blaze Starr, Blaze Starr Goes Nudist (1962) and other films that featured nude women making about one or two a year. After countless features in the Nudist genre, she decided to leave the genre when its popularity started to fade.

Rise in the Sexploitation genre[link]

When beginning her work in the Sexploitation Genre she decided to use a pseudonym "Louis Silverman". One of her first films for the genre Bad Girls Go to Hell(1965), would be considered one of her earliest successes of the genre. With this film we see that it was her first collaboration with her long time Cinematographer C. Davis Smith, who would work with Wishman until her death. Most of these films were shot in Black and White and in 1968 with her film Love Toy she transferred in to shooting her films in color as she went on to do soft-core films. Her biggest claim to fame was when she went on to direct two films with the sexploitation starlet, Chesty Morgan. The films Deadly Weapons and Double Agent 73 featured Morgan with her massive 73 inch bust, in the vein of fellow sexploitation works of filmmakers like Russ Meyer, The Chesty Morgan films had a high camp factor with scenes that featured Morgan taking off her top with sound effects accompanying it to convey the massiveness of her breasts.^[3]

Pornographic and other exploitation work[link]

Later on in her career after her long period of sexploitation work, Wishman went on to do a couple of Hardcore pornographic films like Satan Was a Lady (1975) and Come With Me, My Love (1976) both of which starred Porn Star Annie Sprinkle. Wishman was not fond of working on these films and continually denied working on them. She was known to have left the room on the set of these film during the sex scenes as she deemed them to inappropriate. As her biographer and long time admirer, Michael Bowen had stated in her New York Times Obituary, "She was actually rather sexually naive" He also stated that "She personally thought that someone's hand caressing your face was more erotic than sex itself." Although the project started in 1971, the 1978 release of her documentary on Transsexuality titled Let Me Die A Woman, featured many interviews with actual Transgendered subjects. The film also featured dramatized scenes about daily struggles of Transgendered people featuring that also featured Deepthroat star Harry Reems. She later became quite interested in joining in the Slasher film craze started with films like Halloween (1978), Friday The 13th (1980) Maniac (1981) and Prom Night (1980), Wishman decided to make her own film in the genre titled A Night to Dismember (1983), but the project was a commercial failure for Wishman.^[4]

Later life and death[link]

After the failure of A Night to Dismember, She moved to Florida in the mid-80s where she worked at a lingerie store. During this time people readily started to become very interested again in her work as much of it came to home video. Cult followings started to form and Wishman was honored at the New York Underground Film Festival. Cult Filmmakers like John Waters featured her Chesty Morgan work in his film Serial Mom. Joe Bob Briggs, The Drive-In Movie Critic described Wishman as "The greatest female exploitation film director in history". ^[5] Wishman died on August 10, 2002 at her home in Coral Gables, Florida after a long term battle with Lymphoma

Filmography[link]

• Hideout in the Sun (1960)

• Nude on the Moon (1961)

• Diary of a Nudist (1961)

• Blaze Starr Goes Nudist (1962)

• Gentlemen Prefer Nature Girls (1963)

• Playgirls International (1963)

• Behind the Nudist Curtain (1964)

• The Prince and the Nature Girl (1964)

• Bad Girls Go to Hell (1965)

• The Sex Perils of Paulette (1965)

• Another Day, Another Man (1966)

• My Brother's Wife (1966)

• A Taste of Her Flesh (1967)

• Indecent Desires (1967)

• Too Much Too Often! (1968)

• Love Toy (1968)

• The Amazing Transplant (1970)

• Keyholes Are for Peeping (1972)

• Deadly Weapons (1973)

• Double Agent 73 (1974)

• Satan Was a Lady (1975)

• Come with Me, My Love (1976)

• Let Me Die a Woman (1978)

• A Night to Dismember (1983)

• Dildo Heaven (2002)

• Each Time I Kill (2002)

Sources[link]

Who's More Peculiar Than Doris Wishman?, Spin Magazine, May 1998. 

Doris Wishman by Christopher J. Jarmick, Senses Of Sound.com

Doris Wishman, 'B' Film Director, Dies by Douglas Martin, The New York Times, August 19 2002

Doris Wishman Gerald Peary, 1997

References[link]

External links[link]

• Doris Wishman at the Internet Movie Database
• Doris Wishman at AllRovi
• Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database

Lolita Davidovich (Serbian: Лолита Давидовић; born July 15, 1961) is a Canadian film and television actress.

Early life and career[link]

Davidovich was born in London, Ontario, the daughter of immigrants from Yugoslavia. Her father was from Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, and her mother was from Slovenia;^[1] she spoke only Serbian during her early years.^[2] She studied at the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York.^[3]

She first received notice co-starring in Blaze (1989) with Paul Newman, for which she beat out 600 other actresses^{[citation needed]} for the title role of the burlesque performer Blaze Starr.

She later appeared in several episodes on the first season of the Showtime lesbian-themed television series, The L Word playing the character Francesca Wolff, and also appeared on an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in 2005.

Personal life[link]

Davidovich is married to writer/director Ron Shelton, a former minor league baseball player in Baltimore's system. They have two children: their daughter, Valentina, was born in 1999. They have residences in Los Angeles and Ojai, California.

Filmography[link]

• Recruits (1986) — Susan
• Adventures in Babysitting (1987) — Sue Ann
• Blaze (1989) — Blaze Starr
• The Object of Beauty (1991) — Joan
• JFK (1991) — Beverly Oliver
• The Inner Circle (1991) — Anastasia
• Raising Cain (1992) — Jenny
• Leap of Faith (1992) — Marva
• Boiling Point (1993) — Vikki
• Cobb (1994) - Ramona
• Intersection (1994) — Olivia Marshak
• Harvest of Fire (1996) - Sally Russell
• Santa Fe (1997) — Eleanor Braddock
• Jungle 2 Jungle (1997) — Charlotte
• Gods and Monsters (1998) — Betty
• Mystery, Alaska (1999) - Mary Jane Pitcher
• Play It to the Bone (1999) — Grace Pasic
• Dark Blue (2002) - Sally Perry
• Hollywood Homicide (2003) - Cleo Ricard
• Kill Your Darlings (2006) — Lola
• September Dawn (2007) — Nancy Dunlop
• ZOS: Zone of Separation (2009 miniseries) — Mila Michailov
• Cinema Verite (2011) — Val

Video voice actor[link]

Davidovich voices "Jester" in the video game adventure Chronomaster, which also includes the voices of actors Ron Perlman and Brent Spiner.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Lolita Davidovich at the Internet Movie Database

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