Lili St. Cyr

I was drawn to Gilded Lili, a biography of striptease artist Lili St. Cyr, because of Rocky Horror. One of the songs mentions her name and the title caught my eye.

Lili St. Cyr was a striptease artist of the 50s, who was born into poverty and took stripping as a way out. She found the fame and fortune that she was looking for. Unlike todays strippers, she was an artist with storylines and as much class as you can have taking your clothes off.

Her life was not a terribly happy one as she was married many times and had many affairs without ever finding love. DiNardo does a good job of telling her story without being tittilating or scandalmongering. In the end however it was a sad story.