Always the sidekick, never quite the star...
We have a centenary to mark today, dear reader - the "first lady of the sarong" Miss Dorothy Lamour!
She may not have been much of a "friend of the gays" in her heyday (she was so "in" with the repressive establishment of the time, it was rumoured she and J Edgar Hoover were dating), but her "exotic siren" look prompted many a drag queen to don a floral throw and get their own back.
And by the time her screen career had disappeared into a morass of "victim" roles in shlock-horror films and guest appearances on Marcus Welby MD, Hart to Hart and (of course) The Love Boat, she had obviously bitten the bullet and embraced "camp" - as she embarked on tour in Hello Dolly and made her descent down those stairs in Sondheim's Follies...
And she certainly could sing and dance!
Dorothy Lamour (born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton, 10th December 1914 – 22nd September 1996)
Visit the Dolores Delargo Towers Museum of Camp, where some of her glorious portraits form our latest "exhibit"
My previous blog about Miss Lamour
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