HOPE DIAMOND - Vintage Burlesque Dancer Stripper Photos
Just "Click the Pix" to see a larger view.
- From my archives.
When I first posted about Hope Diamond, a couple of years ago, I couldn't find much about her, just a couple of info-bits. Since then, more info has been added online as Hope was involved in a big news story.
Starting with what I originally had:
- Here's a tidbit from a google search -- Printed in the Daily Student of June 15, 1947
"... Eddie Kaplan has unearthed a new strip by the name and title of Hope Diamond - The Gem of the Exotics ..."
- From my archives, with newspaper ad. She was billed as "The Gem of Exotics".
- From my archives. One of Hope's promo brochures.
A few more pix from my archives...
- Hope Diamond The Gem of the Exotics -- big 11x17 print for sale
And that's where I ended it -- until the recent developments caused me to try to find out more about Hope Diamond -- read on:
At first there were just unsubstantiated rumors that the recently-arrested New Jersey politico Leona Beldini was once an exotic dancer known as Hope Diamond.
Back on my original post, about Hope Diamond, "Mr. Anonymous" had come along and commented that he had known Hope when he was a young boy.
I asked for more, but he didn't share any more info at that time.
Then a few days ago, following the series of arrests in Jersey, I received an email from the same "Mr. Anonymous", saying: "I got a big surprise on the news last night!"
No other info, except for a link to a news article about the big New Jersey political corruption bust, with Leona Beldini's photo. Curious, I tried to find out more...
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Here's the article about Leona Beldini, which has a photo of Leona Beldini, and info about her arrest. Below the article there are reader's comments that allude to rumors that Leona was/is Hope Diamond.
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Digging a little deeper, I found a comment posted on another discussion forum [note: it has since been removed] where "Anonymous" wrote about Leona - here's an excerpt, minus some parts that our Mr. Anonymous asked me to leave out to spare his family:
"... WOW, I just saw Leona Beldini arrested on the news. She is (was?) the Deputy Mayor of Jersey City, NJ for a while now... let me share this little tidbit, and a few of you may actually have heard of her before and not realized it is the same person- Hope 'Diamond' was her Stage name. Hope was one of that last stronghold Burlesque Gals before said art dissolved. ..."
"Anonymous" went on to say: "... Beldini is her ex-husband, drummer for The Morris Naton Trio through the 60s. Any one in the Jersey area back then and doing Jazz clubs may well have heard Al Beldini play. The Fountain in Palisades Park was one place I remember, I was way young, but got dragged in tow often. My Mom and she [Hope/Leona] swapped watching each other's kids. So her son and I spend a lot of time age 7-9ish, etc
Hope, when I was a kid was HOT HOT HOT!! Her act included a fake bubble bathtub, bubble machine and pasties... There was a poster of her in stage regalia in a sidewalk glass marquee well into the 80s, I used to show my friends on NYC jaunts as teens. ..."
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I kept digging, and came up with a couple supportive-ish info-tidbits that back the story up.
According to the book "Burlesque" by Jane Briggeman, Hope Diamond graduated from high school in Princeton, New Jersey, so the location fits.
And this tid-bit from famous Burlesque Stripper / Belly Dancer, Nejla Ates bio-page adds a little more credence to the babysitting comment:
"... 5 April 61 -- Hope Diamond wins a legal separation from her husband in New York on grounds that he deserted her for Nejla.
Hope Diamond and Bobby Colt have a one-year-old son. ..."
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That's where I left it, with a request for reader's help with more info.
And along comes the generous Carola Von Hoffmannstahl-Solomonoff, the editor of MondoQT.com.
She was able to come up with some more info and corroborating facts, and wrote a great article about the Hope Diamond/Leona Beldini mystery on her MondoQT.com website, titled Lady of Burlesque/Hope Diamond, Jersey City Deputy Mayor?
Here's an exerpt:
"... More conclusive was a 1965 article in The Harvard Crimson, in which a reporter interviews Hope Diamond backstage at a Boston Theater. Hope's non-stage name is given as Leona Bonaccolti. ... [and] mentions her Princeton, New Jersey origins and her residence in Edgewater, in Bergen County. Bergen abuts Hudson County, parent entity of Jersey City. ...
... By the 1980s, Leona Beldini was a prominent Jersey City real estate broker. By 2009, she was on the board of the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation (JCEDC) and deputy mayor in the administration of Mayor Jerramiah Healy. The Feds allege that Beldini, while Healy's campaign treasurer, was also a bag woman. Ferrying bribes disguised as campaign contributions to grease development deals. Beldini got a piece of the real estate action. ... She maintains her innocence. ..."
Again -- the story ended there, but it turned out to be just another pause, as more info has turned up.
One of Carola's readers' sent her a pic of a newspaper article, which she has graciously allowed me to share here.
The article ran in the Long Island Press in 1970 -- I have inserted the pix of the article below, but I'll hit the high notes: Mrs. Al Beldini is a stripper who uses the name Hope Diamond
Case closed, mystery solved. Or as Paul Harvey used to say, "And now you know the rest of the story". Unless, of course, something new develops in Ms. Beldini's activities -- a court case, a book, a movie -- who knows -- there's no such thing as BAD publicity, right?
The Burlesque Babes Blog is published by burlesquebabesshop.com
1 comments:
Here is a story about Hope Diamond, Joan Torino and Ellie Ferelli, posted about 10 years ago in The Hudson Reporter.
I would love to learn more about Hope Diamond and perhaps find any pictures of her from her days as a Burlesque Star.
Thank yu,
LT.
UC's past to be highlighted in 75th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee Parade Famous Hudson burlesque queens featured
9 years ago | 107 views | 0 | 2 | | The burlesque queens from the Famous Hudson Theater will be back by popular demand. Joan Torino, Hope Diamond and Ellie Farrelly, who delighted audiences with their stage presence in the 1940s and '50s, will get a curtain call today (Sunday, Oct. 22) as the Famous Hudson Theater burlesque queens reunite for Union City's 75th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee Parade.
The parade celebrates the city's rich cultural and ethnic heritage and features the reigning Miss USA, bands, floats, vintage vehicles, dancers, local celebrities and much more. It steps off at 1 p.m. on Bergenline Avenue and 48th Street, then heads to 15th Street and proceeds west to Summit Avenue. Then, it veers south to Paterson Plank Road and into Washington Park.
Perhaps no group exemplifies Union City's past reputation as an entertainment mecca than Torino, Diamond and Farrelly of the Famous Hudson Theater. Burlesque thrived in Union City in the early- to mid-1900s, with the venue bringing together a full orchestra, a chorus line, show girls, singers and comics.
"It was really family entertainment and there was something for everyone," says Torino, who starred at the theater until it closed in 1957. "Union City was a hotbed of activity and the Famous Hudson Theater was the place to be."
Torino, who is now "happily retired," will return to the spotlight with Hope Diamond and Ellie Farrelly aboard a featured parade float. Male members of Hudson County modeling clubs in top hats and tails will join them.
Leading the parade will be the Union Hill and Hoboken High School bands, who will escort Lynnette Cole, Miss USA 2000, who represented the United States in the Miss Universe Pageant. The Trust Company Bank sponsored her appearance.
The Union Hill and Hoboken bands symbolize the formation of Union City, which was created through the merger of the communities of West Hoboken and Union Hill.
The Emerson High School Band and the official Union City float to mark the Diamond Jubilee Parade's commencement will follow them. The event will also feature floats, marching bands, public safety/military and vintage vehicles, as well as dancers, local beauty queens and representatives of various community groups.
The parade will conclude in Washington Park at approximately 3 p.m. with the introduction of dignitaries and special guests. Rep. Robert Menendez will read and present a congressional proclamation saluting the city on its anniversary.
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