Sally Rand

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Rand got her start as a chorus girl at Kansas City's Empress Theater when she was only 13. An early supporter was drama critic Goodman Ace, who wrote glowing reviews after seeing her in a Kansas City nightclub. After studying ballet and drama, she worked her way to Hollywood, briefly employed as an acrobat in the Ringling Brothers Circus. Cecil B. DeMille gave her the name Sally Rand, inspired by a Rand McNally atlas. She was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1927. Her most famous appearance was at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, the Century of Progress, where she performed the fan dance to 'Clair de Lune' accompanied by Art Frasik's orchestra. She was arrested four times in a single day for perceived indecent exposure—after a fan dance, while riding a white horse, and after being bodypainted by Max Factor Sr. She was convicted of willfully performing an obscene dance on September 23, 1933, but the conviction was overturned in November 1934. She also conceived the bubble dance, in part to cope with wind while performing outdoors. In 1936, she purchased The Music Box burlesque hall in San Francisco, later the Great American Music Hall. She starred in 'Sally Rand's Nude Ranch' at the 1939–1940 Golden Gate International Exposition. To advertise, she organized a stunt on February 17, 1939, with lingerie-clad women on horses riding down Market Street. A trained pilot, she reportedly broke the light plane speed record from San Francisco to Reno on August 1, 1939, completing the trip in 1 hour and 54 minutes. In the early 1940s, she did summer stock in Woodstock, New York, starring in Rain and Little Foxes with Karl Malden. Malden recalled she was unprepared and seemed to care more about her dazzling costumes than learning her lines, and noted in his memoirs that 'one could assume she rarely bathed.' She was arrested twice in San Francisco in 1946 while performing at Club Savoy; the judge viewed her act and cleared her, saying anyone who found it lewd 'has to have a perverted idea of morals.' She continued performing into the 1970s, including at the Mitchell Brothers club in San Francisco and touring with the 1972 nostalgia revue Big Show of 1928. Describing her career, Rand said, 'I haven’t been out of work since the day I took my pants off.'

Reader's Guide

Sally Rand's significance lies in her popularization of the fan dance and bubble dance, which became iconic acts in American burlesque. Her performances at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair drew massive attention and legal controversy—she was arrested four times in one day and convicted, but the conviction was overturned in 1934 after a judge viewed her act and deemed it not lewd. Rand's career longevity—over forty years without a break—demonstrates her adaptability from silent films to television, and from vaudeville to nostalgia revues. She also contributed to San Francisco's entertainment history by owning a burlesque hall and staging a famous stunt with lingerie-clad women on horseback. Her legacy includes references in popular culture: in Tex Avery's cartoon Hollywood Steps Out (1941), a rotoscoped Rand performs her bubble dance; she was the model for characters in Robert A. Heinlein's science fiction stories; and a football play at the University of Delaware was named after her, later migrating to Canada as a 'naked bootleg' used by the BC Lions. She was the mystery guest on What's My Line? in 1952 and appeared on To Tell the Truth in 1957.

Did You Know?

• Sally Rand was arrested four times in a single day during the 1933 Chicago World's Fair for perceived indecent exposure.
• She was a trained pilot and reportedly broke the light plane speed record from San Francisco to Reno on August 1, 1939, completing the trip in 1 hour and 54 minutes.
• Cecil B. DeMille gave her the stage name Sally Rand, inspired by a Rand McNally atlas.
• Karl Malden recalled in his memoirs that Rand rarely bathed, instead dousing herself with perfume and layering on makeup until it caked and separated.
• A football play at the University of Delaware was named after Sally Rand, and the name migrated to Canada as a 'naked bootleg' used by the BC Lions.