Miss Zorita

There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on burlesque queen, Miss Zorita but what is known is that she was born on August 30,1915with the name Kathryn Boyd and died on November 12,2001 at the age of 86. She was adopted by Methodists and by the time she was 15 she was "built to the hilt" and was performing at stag parties, then moved on to nudist colonies ( San Diego World's Fair) and then finally made her move into burlesque. Miss Zorita had two specialties in one she performed  with two boa constrictors named, Oscar and Elmer, for twenty minutes, this was called " the consummation of the wedding of the snake" and her Dance of the Wandering Hands. Plus she would do a fan dance routine using Sally Rand fans.

Miss Zorita feeding her snake

 Another of her routines was Half and Half, which is said to have been invented by Vernon Castle. This is when the performer/dancers costume is designed to be half woman and half man. The dancer usually puts on make-up to reflect the same, Miss Zorita became famous for her provocative rendition of the Half and Half.

  I suppose it can be said that Miss Zorita was bisexual for she preferred women over men. For though she never married, she would date certain men and use them for all that they were worth. By 1954 Miss Zorita had retired from stripping and owned her on nightclubs in Miami and New York.