Playboy is an American soft-porn men's magazine founded in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and world famous for it's 'bunny head' logo. Since the magazine, Playboy has extended into cabaret clubs, the first club being opened in Chicago, Illinois in 1960, famed for their waitresses dressed as 'Playboy Bunnies', a television channel and in 1994 a web site. In 1988 the last American Playboy club closed and in1991 the last international Playboy club, in Manila, closed. Research Playboy
Willa Mae Buckner ('The Snake Lady') was an American blues singer and entertainer. She was born in 1922 at Augusta, Georgia and died in 2000. As well as a blues singer, she worked cabaret doing fire eating, a snake act and exotic dancing covered in gold paint. Research Willa Mae Buckner More information about Willa Mae Buckner
Elwyn Brook-Jones was a British actor. He was born in 1911 and died in 1962. Formerly a concert-hall and cabaret performer, he turned to acting in the 1930s and played many Shakespearian roles on the stage. Research Elwyn Brook-Jones
Gregoire Aslan (real name Krikor Aslanian) also known as Coco Aslan was a Turkish actor and musician. He was born in 1908 at Istanbul and died in 1982 of a heartattack. Originally a drummer and vocalist with a dance band in Paris, he moved into vaudeville and cabaret before becoming an actor. Research Gregoire Aslan
Judy Garland (real name Frances Gumm) was an American singer and actress. She was born in 1922 at Grand Rapids, Minnesota and died in 1969. She was born Frances Gumm, and made her stage debut at the age of three with her sisters as The Gumm Sisters singing act. When she was nine, she changed her stage name to Garland, and the act eventually broke up when one of the sisters married. At the age of 13, Judy Garland was hired by MGM, where she gained success as a teenage star, often opposite Mickey Rooney. Her career soared when she captivated audiences with her portrayal of Dorothy in the 1939 film 'The Wizard Of Oz', a role initially slated for Shirley Temple, and one which won Judy Garland a special Oscar. Several years later, she married musician David Rose, but divorced him four years later. In 1944, she starred in the film 'Meet Me In St Louis', and a year later married Vincente Minnelli, the film's director. She made a comeback with personal performances in London and New York and an excellent screen performance in the 1954 film 'A Star Is Born'. In the late 1950s, her career faltered again, and she was plagued with breakdowns, lawsuits, and chronic marital problems with Sid Luft, her third husband, whom she divorced in 1965. After a brief marriage to actor Mark Herron, she went to London and married Mickey Deans, a nightclub manager, and starred in a disastrous cabaret act. In 1969 she died from an accidental drug overdose. Research Judy Garland
The Bikini is a two-piece item of women's swim-wear. It was invented in 1946 by a French designer and was called the 'bikini' after the atombomb test at bikini atoll, the premise being that the bikini was as small as an atom, and the results were explosive! When first revealed, no professional model could be found to model such a revealing item of clothing, and so a cabaret dancer was hired to model the first bikini.
Basically a bikini resembles an ensemble of a brassiere and a pair of briefs, though made of thicker material and sometimes it also incorporates a sort of ultra-mini skirt. Since its invention in 1946, the bikini has become universal among women of the industrial world, has had a song written about it - 'Itsybitsy yellow polka-dot bikini', and has been used as a form of eroticism in numerous television adverts, posters and films. Among the most famous were the use of a fur bikini worn by Raquel Welch in the 1966 film 'One Million Years BC' which attracted thousands of male viewers to a film which might otherwise have gone unnoticed. Research Bikini More pictures of Bikini
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