Date of Printing: c• 1960 • Medium: Photograph, RC print (B&W) • Subject Category: Bizarre & Oddities • Signed: Upper Center Period • Created: Post-Modern (1950 - 1999) • Plate Size HxWxD cm: 23 x 18 • Leaf Paper Size HxW cm: 25.5 x 20.3 • Style: Original Vintage • Print on Verso: Signature on verso • Condition: Pristine - new or as new • Edition Type: Limited Edition • Paper Type: Resin Coated Photographic Paper • Framed: Unframed
Portrait of the legendary Lilly Christine (1923-65), by the legendary photographer BRUNO OF HOLLYWOOD.Autograph on verso.
This photo comes from the estate of DIXIE EVANS and is part our LEGENDS OF BURLESQUE series on Antinous.
Lilly Christine, a.k.a. "The Cat Girl," was a famous and beloved burlesque exotic dancer and men's magazine model of the late 1940's up until the early 1960's with a mesmerizing stage presence, a wild mane of long peroxide blonde hair, and a simply spectacular 37C-22-35 voluptuous bombshell body. Lilly was born as Martha Theresa Pompender on December 17, 1923 in Dunkirk, New York. Although there were rumors that she had a Norwegian father and a Swedish mother, Christine in reality was actually of Italian-Polish descent. She first began dancing in 1948 and proved to be a major headliner performing her trademark voodoo love potion dance at Prima's 500 Club in New Orleans, Louisiana. Lilly was prominently featured doing her other signature stalking cat dance in the Broadway stage production of the musical revue "Michael Todd's Peep Show," which ran from June 28, 1950 to February 24, 1951 at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City. Moreover, Christine graced the covers and/or posed for centerfolds in such adult publications as "Rogue," "He," "Modern Man," "Gala," "Tempo," and "Cover Girls." She had uncredited minor parts in the movies "Two Guys from Texas," "My Wild Irish Rose," "Two Guys from Milwaukee," and "Irish Eyes Are Smiling." Lilly Christine was still dancing and drawing huge crowds in nightclubs down south when she died from peritonitis at the tragically young age of 41 on January 9, 1965 in Broward County, Florida.
Bruno Bernard (February 2, 1912 – June 3, 1987) also known as Bernard of Hollywood, was an German-American photographer best known for pin-up and glamour photography of Marilyn Monroe and others.