Podcast Summary: Who Did What Now – Episode 159

Lili St. Cyr – Burlesque Icon

Host: Katie Charlwood
Date: September 9, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode centers on the remarkable life and legacy of Lili St. Cyr, a legendary figure in the history of burlesque. Katie Charlwood explores St. Cyr’s journey from a challenging childhood to becoming a defining artist in burlesque, tracing her rise, artistic innovations, personal challenges, public scandals, and long-lasting influence. The aim is to highlight the importance and complexity of women's history, particularly in spaces like burlesque, often sidelined or misunderstood in traditional historical accounts.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Why Burlesque History Matters

• Katie shares her passion for niche and "weird" museums and the urgency of supporting institutions like the Burlesque Hall of Fame, under threat from funding cuts.
  • Quote [04:40]: “I just think that, you know, it's so easy for certain aspects of history to be dismissed and ignored, and especially when it centers around women, POC and LGBTQ… So I am here begging everyone, like, a dollar, $2, $20…”
• The episode is part of a wider burlesque series, reflecting Katie’s mission to safeguard and spotlight the marginal, often female-centered corners of history.

Early Life, Identity, and Family Secrets

• Lili St. Cyr was born Marie Frances Van Schaack (officially “Clarkiste”) in 1917 to a working-class family that moved often due to financial hardship.

  • Katie comments on the hidden labor in fashion and sewing, using Lili’s early sewing lessons as a jumping off point to highlight the real people behind every garment we wear.
    • Quote [11:20]: “All clothes are handmade… Next time you complain about the price of something, think about why your T-shirt is costing three bucks.”

• Family revelations turned her world upside down: the woman she thought was her mother was actually her grandmother, and her “sister” was really her mother.

  • Katie rejects the term “half sister” and advocates fiercely for defining family on one’s own terms.

Teenage Aspirations, Hollywood, and Early Agency

• Lili idolized Hollywood glamour, emulating stars like Greta Garbo and Jean Harlow, even bleaching her hair using a dangerous homemade concoction.

  • Quote [19:12]: “If you have access to all these items at home, please don’t do this… I would like you to keep your scalps.”

• After a traumatic illegal abortion as a teenager, Lili is harshly judged by her family and decides to take control of her own fate, breaking up with her boyfriend and leaving home.

  • Quote [23:55]: “You cannot ban abortion. You can only ban safe abortions… Abortion is health care. If you don’t believe that, you can fuck off.”

Start of Burlesque Career and Reinvention

• Lili, now using her mother’s last name, heads to Hollywood, first as a chorus girl, then gradually works her way into burlesque.
• She cycles through multiple marriages, each ending in divorce, but finds herself as an artist during her time at San Francisco’s Music Box Theatre, transitioning from chorus girl ($27.50/week) to headliner ($500/week)—a huge jump in both autonomy and income ([29:20]).
• Katie details the origin of Lili’s stage name, offering three theories (from admirer, pun on “sincere,” or after a martyred saint), settling humorously on “Maybe she just thought it sounded cool.”
• Lili’s first attempt at solo striptease bombs, but with support and innovation—most famously, the “Flying G” G-string gimmick—she crafts acts that are teasing, comic, and boundary-pushing, setting the template for generations of performers ([35:00]).

Sensation, Scandal, and Artistic Evolution

• Lili becomes a headliner, credited with helping popularize striptease in Las Vegas. Her shows are lucrative and infamous for requiring men to buy champagne for the chance to sit with her—she’d even knock over bottles to boost profits ([40:03]).

  • Quote: “If there was no champagne, Lily Sincere would not be sitting with you… she would split the profits with the venue.”

• Despite professing a youthful desire to be a “gold digger,” Lili typically supported her husbands financially and lived on her own terms, enjoying both her creative freedom and her lovers (including rumored trysts with Ronald Reagan and others).

• Katie discusses the problematic elements of Lili’s shows, which often drew on colonial and orientalist tropes, and addresses the necessity of critiquing the art we love:

  • Quote [44:30]: “We need to understand and accept that the past is going to have some dark parts in it… you can appreciate the beauty and the art, but you have to see the full picture.”

Public Battles and Media Attention

• Lili St. Cyr was arrested several times for “indecency,” but typically acquitted after demonstrations that her acts were artistic rather than lewd ([48:27]).
  • Notably, her “bathtub act” was explained and performed fully clothed for a jury, leading to a not-guilty verdict.
  • Her notoriety in Montreal—described as “femme fatale” and condemned by the clergy and morality committees—represents both the allure and moral panic around her work.

Burlesque Decline, Later Life, and Legacy

• As burlesque’s popularity waned, Lili’s career shifted to Hollywood, with film appearances (including the infamous “Son of Sinbad”) but little real creative fulfillment.

• She also battled depression and had several suicide attempts, especially after romantic setbacks ([51:35]).

• In retirement, Lili successfully opened the “Undie World of Lili St. Cyr” lingerie shop—her influence even reaching to cult films and pop culture:

  • The costumes for “Rocky Horror Picture Show” were sourced from her shop, and Elvira’s signature look comes from a Lili St. Cyr plunge bra ([59:10]).

• In her later years, she lived reclusively, beset by allegations of drug dependence and the poisonous influence of a much younger, long-term partner.

Reflection and Impact

• Right to the end, Lili St. Cyr was proud of her life and work. She never apologized for her career as an “icon” and “purveyor of pleasure” who championed the artistry, agency, and importance of burlesque ([62:30]).

  • Quote: “She came from nothing and became a star. And she was her own woman and showed that burlesque is art… and Lili Sincere, she was an icon. She deserves to be remembered.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On museum support and marginalized history [04:40]:
  “It is so easy for certain aspects of history to be dismissed and ignored, and especially when it centers around women, POC and LGBTQ.” – Katie Charlwood

• On garment labor [11:20]:
  “Every item of clothing you wear is made by a person. Next time you complain about the price of something, think about why your T-shirt is costing three bucks.”

• On the fallout from her abortion [23:55]:
  “You cannot ban abortion. You can only ban safe abortions. Abortion is health care. If you don’t believe that, you can fuck off.”

• On artistic innovation and the “Flying G” [35:00]:
  “As the lights would turn out right at the end of her act, the G string would fly off her body and into the balcony… people want to see It. And so it's tantalizing and teasing and it's just a very, very smart move altogether.”

• On champagne profits and self-worth [40:03]:
  “If there was no champagne, Lily Sincere would not be sitting with you… she would split the profits with the venue.”

• On critique of colonialist themes [44:30]:
  “We need to understand and accept that the past is going to have some dark parts in it… you can appreciate the beauty and the art, but you have to see the full picture.”

• On pride in her art and legacy [62:30]:
  “Up until the end, Lili St. Cyr was always proud of her life. She was never ashamed of her career. She was never ashamed of being a purveyor of pleasure… she was an icon.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |---------------|---------------------------------------------------------------| | 04:40 | Importance of supporting burlesque history and museums | | 11:20 | Reflections on fashion labor and sewing | | 19:12 | Lili’s early idolization and DIY beauty transformations | | 23:55 | Life-altering abortion experience and fallout | | 29:20 | Early career, chorus girl to featured headliner | | 35:00 | Creation of the “Flying G” striptease gimmick | | 40:03 | Champagne profits and self-worth in burlesque clubs | | 44:30 | Colonialist themes and the necessity of critical awareness | | 48:27 | Scandals, courtroom battles, and public attention | | 51:35 | Film career, depression, and suicide attempts | | 59:10 | “Undie World” shop, Rocky Horror, and pop culture influence | | 62:30 | Lasting legacy and pride in career |

Conclusion & Recommendations

Katie encourages listeners to recognize Lili St. Cyr as both burlesque icon and complex woman—a pioneer whose artistry, resilience, and refusal to apologize for her life should be celebrated. She advocates for supporting the Burlesque Hall of Fame and recommends further watching, reading, and listening:

• Watch: “Rocky Horror Picture Show”
• Read: Goddess of Love Incarnate by Leslie Zemeckis
• Listen: Sabrina Carpenter’s music, especially her VMA performance

Final Word:
Katie leaves her audience with her signature mix of humor, irreverence, and unguarded passion for history:
“She came from nothing and became a star… and Lily Sincere, she was an icon… she deserves to be remembered.” ([62:30])

[End of Summary]