And does she! In the annuals of well known strippers, Betty “Blue Eyes” Howard, The Girl Who Has Everything, as she billed her self, was among the first. She started dancing burlesque in the late 1940s, crossed the United States during the 1950’s and even made it to Havana Cuba in 1956.
We’re extremely lucky to have a few films of her dancing, showing that she certainly knew how to shake it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPjimGOJUW4
Some sites claim this second film is from the 1930s, which is possible since it’s got that silent movie feel to it going on. Another site claims she was born in Daytona, Florida in 1925 which would have made this late 1930. The same site also provides another tagline for Betty Howard – The Cadillac Stripper as she traveled the country in a Cadillac towing a camp trailer.
Her run in Cuba seems to have been well received.
“Havana’s reaction to American strippers like Betty Howard would come as no surprise to Harold Minsky. Impresario Minsky, who should know if anyone does, once pegged her as one of the top ten exotics in the business.
Living up to such praise can be pretty rough on a stripper. When you’re billed as the best you gotta produce and that’s just what the intense gyrations of Miss Howard are calculated to do. She’s crowd pleaser and if the response of wide-eyed audiences at the Compoamar and Marti theaters in Havana are any indication, Minsky knew what he was talking about.
Says Betty about all this, “I like it.”
This attitude is one of the things that’s made her a top-runger in the doffing for dollars department. She’s nuts about her work. There’s nothing, but nothing, she’d rather be doing than peeling her way to the buff before the eager and enthusiastic gaze of an elated male audience. The cry, “Take it off,” is music to her ears. Just a little encouragement of this king and the dainty garments go flying as thick and fast as the law allows.
But nobody cares how fast the wrapping comes off if the package beneath isn’t a prize. And here’s the second reason why she’s at the top of the heap. The Howard package in the pelt is a pretty imposing bundle. The five feet five and a half of her curves in and out nicely to the tune of 40-25-37. And that’s a very intriguing melody.”
I find it interesting that she seems to have gone through every color of hair possible in her career. I have to wonder the reasons behind that, or if she was just keeping up with what the crowd wanted. Personally I find the red the sexiest on her, but she looks good as a blonde too.
If you know anything more about the Betty Howard, please post below!
