Dixie Evans

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Dixie Evans in the Miss ExoticWorld (2006) election

Dixie Evans (* 28. August 1926 in Long Beach , California ; † 3. August 2013 in Las Vegas , Nevada ; actually Mary Lee Evans ) was an American burlesque - dancer , actress and stripper . She gained fame as a double for actress Marilyn Monroe . Evans was the founder of the Burlesque Hall of Fame , the world's largest museum of burlesque, new burlesque and striptease .

life and career

Dixie Evans grew up in a strictly Catholic home. Her father died when she was 11 years old. At 17, Evans left school and started working as a switchboard operator. After posing as a pin-up girl for magazines, from 1942 she appeared in a circus as a harem dancer and assistant to a lion tamer. From 1950 she worked in San Francisco as an assistant at the theater and later as an animation lady in a club. In this club, Dixie Evans later appeared as a dancer and went on tour with her stage show in many major cities in the USA.

In 1952 it was discovered by Harold Minsky, who was a well-known organizer. From then on, Evans imitated Marilyn Monroe in her burlesque shows . Due to her resemblance to the actress, she got numerous appearances and became famous as The Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque in the USA. The shows were based on well-known scenes from Monroe films. Evans imitated Monroe's hairstyles and makeup, sang playback to her songs, and wore copies of Monroe's clothes that she took off during the erotic dance. After Marilyn Monroe passed away in 1962, Evans engagements declined and she developed alcohol problems. Eventually she married a boxer and went to New Jersey with him. She retired from show business and became a housewife. After their divorce (she was later married four more times), Dixie Evans went to Miami Beach and began stripping again.

From 1969 Evans lived in the Bahamas and briefly became a hotel manager because she was now too old for show business in her early forties.

Burlesque Hall of Fame

Immodesty Blaize at the Miss Exotic World Pageant (2007)

Dixie Evans moved in 1991 to a former farm in Helendale near Los Angeles, which the husband of Jennie Lee ("The Bazoom Girl"), a colleague of Dixie Evans had bought. When Jennie Lee died in 1990, she left Evans with a large pool of costumes and outfits. With this estate, she opened the Exotic World Burlesque Museum in 1992 .

The museum is now called the Burlesque Hall of Fame and is now located in Las Vegas and shows the world's largest collection of props from the fields of burlesque , new burlesque and striptease . Numerous famous burlesque dancers such as Tempest Storm , Bettie Page , Gypsy Rose Lee , Chesty Morgan or Lili St. Cyr were recorded in the fame hall of the museum , but also actresses with an erotic image such as Josephine Baker , Theda Bara , Yvonne De Carlo , Diana Dors , Jayne Mansfield , Mamie van Doren or Mae West . The collection also includes the remains of Marilyn Monroe.

The museum oversees the Exotic Dancers' League of America and hosts the Miss Exotic World Pageant and Striptease Reunion annually . This charity event includes a convention as well as a pageant. Celebrities and burlesque dancers such as Tura Satana or Immodesty Blaize will be honored at a subsequent show . Actresses like Margaret Cho will host the show.

She died on August 3, 2013 at the age of 86 after suffering a stroke earlier this year.

Filmography

  • 1950: Too Hot to Handle
  • 1996: The Unveiling
  • 2001: Rewind America
  • 2001: SexTV , episode: Burlesque / Beyond Gender / Peaches
  • 2004: Striptease: The Greatest Exotic Dancers of All Time
  • 2005: Pretty Things
  • 2006: SexTV , episode: Sex Collectors / Yokohama Mary
  • 2008: Bump & Grind: The Making of a Burlesque Diva

Documentary about Dixie Evans:

  • 1996: The Shadow of Marilyn Monroe. Portrait of the doppelganger Dixie Evans

Web links

Commons : Miss Exotic World Pageant  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Burlesque star Dixie Evans dies at 86 , Las Vegas Weekly, accessed August 6, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Evans, Dixie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Evans, Mary Lee
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American dancer and actress
DATE OF BIRTH August 28, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Long Beach , California , USA
DATE OF DEATH 3rd August 2013
Place of death Las Vegas , Nevada , USA