Toni Elling
Toni Elling | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Performing at Miss Exotic World, 2007 | |
| Born | Rosita Sims 5/13/1929 Detroit, United States |
| Occupation(s) | dancer, entertainer |
| Years active | 1960–74 |
Toni Elling (born Rosita Sims, 1929-2023), also known by her stage name Satin Doll, was an American burlesque dancer.[1]
Elling was born in Detroit to Joseph and Myrtle Sims, the eldest of three children.[2] She was unhappy with her job as a telephone operator at the Michigan Bell Telephone Company where she had worked for 9 years, because she could not get promoted because she was an African American. She got into burlesque dancing in 1960 when she was 32 years old after a friend suggested she get into stripping, and continued performing until the early 1970s.[2] She married but she soon divorced, as her husband was abusive. They had no children.[3] She took her name from her friend and confidant, bandleader Duke Ellington. She was also friends with Sammy Davis Jr. and fighter Joe Louis.[3] She would never take off her panties in her act or wear a G-string because it is “entertainment, yes, but the idea is to suggest what’s there, not throw off all your clothes and reveal everything. That’s why they call it strip-tease.”
Elling retired in 1974. In 2016 she was inducted into the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.[3]
Elling died on April 2, 2023, at the age of 94.
References
- ^ Barnes, Michael (9 April 2014). "Toni Elling, 85, still a queen of burlesque". Austin-American Statesman. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
- ^ a b "SO BURLESQUE: SO BURLESQUE: INTERVIEW WITH LEGEND OF BURLESQUE TONI ELLING". www.soburlesqueblog.com. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
- ^ a b c "Burlesque legend Toni Elling to visit Windsor". Windsor News - Breaking News & Latest Headlines | Windsor Star. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
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