Long before Madonna strutted in lingerie or Marilyn swiveled her hips on screen, Lili St. Cyr was captivating audiences with her version of high-class striptease. St. Cyr was the epitome of the elegant peel. One of the highest paid performers of the day, she appeared to sold out crowds in the swankiest of venues. Idolized by men, imitated by women and sought after by lotharios, lovers and the vice squad, St. Cyr had a spectacular life. In her book Gilded Lili: Lili St. Cyr and the Striptease Mystique, author Kelly DiNardo resurrects not only the famous entertainer, but also the era that produced, worshiped and ultimately discarded her.
DiNardo interviewed virtually everyone still living who knew St. Cyr—ex-husbands, fellow performers, friends and fans. DiNardo says St. Cyr was one of the most innovative performers of the day. Her body type--lithe, tall and thin--was different from the zaftig stars of the day. Unlike most of the other strippers, she didn’t talk during her act. Her performances, mini tableaux narrated with a striptease ballet, were more like today’s performance art than a raucous burlesque act.
More than just a performer, she was a canny businesswoman who “had a laser-like ability to lock onto what she wanted. She was incredibly persistent,” said DiNardo. She was also a perfectionist. Taking cues from Garbo, who St. Cyr admired from an early age, she had a thorough knowledge of the power of lighting, sets and costumes. With the addition of furs, gloves, evening gowns and bubble baths, the effect was more glamorous than gritty. “She had a look but don’t touch hauteur,” said DiNardo, who was surprised to find out how shy she was offstage. “The Ice Queen persona was a way of protecting herself onstage and that also fed into her shyness.”
Marie Frances Von Schaak was born in Minneapolis in 1917 and her family eventually moved to California. She grew up poor, was raised by her grandmother and was in her teens before finding out her ‘older sister’ was really her mother. DiNardo thinks it was her early years that made her the independent and self-reliant woman who ultimately became the financial support of most of the men she was romantically involved with. St. Cyr was married (and divorced) many times, but stayed friends with nearly all her ex’s. “None of them ever really knew her,” said DiNardo, “so it was easier to stay friends.”
Perhaps because she was blessed with tremendous beauty and sex appeal St. Cyr felt that was all that she had to offer. She performed into her early fifties, but after retiring she retreated and shut herself off from the rest of the world. She became addicted to heroin and slowly and painfully self-destructed. DiNardo said, “I so wanted to her to have a happy ending. I really hated the idea that people would see this as a comeuppance for the life she led.” St. Cyr died in 1996, virtually broke and largely forgotten by her fans. DiNardo said that the end of her life has a kind of 1940’s film noir quality, but she doesn’t want the reader to view it as the typical trajectory of a fallen woman. “No one views the death of William S. Borroughs that way,” she said. DiNardo wrote, she should be thought of “as the woman who bucked the status quo and lived life on her own terms.”—Sherry Mazzocchi
(author photo courtesy of Kelly DiNardo)
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