We are saddened to report the passing yesterday of burlesque legend Tempest Storm (Annie Banks, b. 1928). We last shared our post on her back in 2016 — she was a leap year baby. And when I say baby, I mean baby!!
Originally from rural Georgia, already a twice divorced child-bride at 20, Banks decided to put her 44DD-25-35 measurements and fiery red hair to good use by becoming a burlesque performer. She debuted as Tempest Storm at the El Rey Club in Oakland, California around 1950 and went on to become one of the most famous of all burlesque dancers, through her nightclub appearances, pin-ups, movies, celebrity hook-ups (she was married to singer Herb Jeffries and had affairs with Elvis and JFK), and national press in places like Life Magazine.
She danced professionally until she was 67 years old, and still came out to perform on occasion until quite recently. You can see her in Leslie Zemeckis’s excellent film Behind the Burly Q. She was one the last of the true burlesque legends.
(Travalanche) 
Delighted the lady is still with us. Saw her in the late 1960s at the Lyric Theater in Allentown, Pennsylvania, one of the stops on the last surviving burlesque circuit in the United States. Fantastic entertainment. You had to be there.
On Mon, Feb 29, 2016 at 2:41 PM, Travalanche wrote:
> travsd posted: ” Today is the birthday of burlesque legend Tempest Storm > (Annie Banks, b. 1928). We’ve waited so long to do a post on her because > her proper birthday doesn’t roll around too often — she’s a leap year > baby. And when I say baby, I mean baby!! Origina” >
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