Just "Click the Pix" to see a larger view.
- She was billed as:
- "The Unpredictable Sophisticated Miss FiFi Paree"
- From my archives.
- Be sure to "Click the Pic".
When I first posted about Miss FiFi Paree, I couldn't find any bio info online. But one of my readers sent me a nice email with his memories. With his permission, here's what Jeff wrote:
" Nice to hear from you, Marianne. I am a news anchor here in Cleveland who "mis-spent" part of my youth in what were, apparently, the final days of wheel burlesque in the sixties. I have great memories, and you certainly rekindled them with your FiFi Paree mdse. You said you'd been unable to find out anything about her. I'm glad to at least begin a sketch with my memories.
Most of my memories of burlesque are from the old Park Theater on Champion Street in Youngstown. In about 1966 they were still part of a wheel that moved shows from city to city for one-week stands. I believe, from what I've read, it was a small circuit of eight or ten cities in the east.
The units featured a headliner, usually three supporting strippers, a comedian and straight man. At the Park the three piece pit band and candy butcher were local. Headliners I remember seeing advertised in this era included Rose La Rose, Irma the Body, Tempest Storm, Blaze Starr and Busty Russell.
On a holiday trip home from college in about 1966 I went to the Park and saw the sexiest headliner ever, FiFi Paree. She began her act dressed as what looked to me like a southern belle—a to-the-floor hoop skirted gown, very wide brim straw hat and a parasol. Her entrance was as a very proper lady out for a stroll. Her flirtation with the audience began early in her first walk-across number, but it was subtle. It was probably by the end of her entrance number that she revealed heels and hose beneath her skirt and petticoats. Way hot. By the end of her act she had gone from proper to flirtatious to incendiary. Just a great performer.I had heard that headliners at the Park would sign a picture to "college boys" who asked for one. So, I asked. I was told to wait for her in the lobby. She came out in street clothes. We chatted, she signed an 8 by 10 for me and, believe it or not, I left that night with her real name and address in Toledo. When I returned to Ohio University we wrote a couple of times and that was it.
I can't remember her name or the extent of her career. I know I'd never heard of her before that week in Youngstown. She was youngish for a feature, and I don't remember hearing of her after that until seeing her on your website. I am certain she lived in Toledo, so if you can hook up with a burlesque buff from there, which shouldn't be impossible given Rose La Rose having lived there and operated theaters there, you can probably fill out a biographical sketch, but, as I indicated, it may be brief compared to dancers whose careers crossed decades.
My guess is, if her burlesque career was brief, it's because she came in toward the end of its history. Thanks for doing what you're doing. I'll be ordering something from your shop soon. -- Jeff Maynor "
Thanks, Jeff! And, as always, if anyone has any more info, I'd love to hear it, and share it.
- FIFI PAREE Framed Photo -- 13x16 frame
- FIFI PAREE Classic Thong Pantie
- FIFI PAREE White T-Shirt
- FIFI PAREE Mug
See many more photos and gift items of FIFI PAREE today in my online shop-- BURLESQUE BABES, with 100's of Sexy Burlesque Stripper from my huge vintage photograph collection.
The Burlesque Babes Blog is published by burlesquebabesshop.com
