‘Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque’ dies at 86

Dixie Evans (L) was known for her raunchy imitations of Monroe (R) Las Vegas – Arab Today Dixie Evans, known as the "Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque", died in Las Vegas of natural causes, her biographer, Lynn Sally, said. She was 86. Evans, who died on August 3, titillated American audiences with her saucy imitation of the iconic film-star, and went on in later life to run the Exotic World Museum in Helendale, California, which she took charge of in 1990.
The museum became the Burlesque Hall of Fame when it moved to Las Vegas in 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.
The so-called Godmother of Burlesque became famous in the 1950s for imitating the look and mannerisms of actress Marilyn Monroe and was known for emphasising the way in which burlesque dancers and strippers removed their clothes, not the nudity itself, the Times said.
"It wasn't about taking your clothes off," she told the Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger newspaper in 2007. "It was the way you took them off."
"We've always been sort of old-fashioned, fuddy-duddy," she said of the Miss Exotic World competition for burlesque dancers she began in 1991. She was disappointed when the competitors emphasised full-on nudity.

Source: UPI