Sally Rand was a burlesque dancer and actress. She was best known for her ostrich feather fan and balloon bubble dances. The real name of Rand was Harriet Helen Gould Beck. She used to perform under the name Billie Beck. The name Sally Rand was inspired by Rand McNally atlas and was given to her by Cecil B. DeMille.

Sally Rand was born on April 3, 1904 in Hickory County, Missouri. Initially, she performed on stage in 1920s. She also appeared in silent films. In 1927, she was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars.

As soon as a sound film is introduced, she became a dancer. She got fame due to her fan dance which she started at the Paramount Club. In 1933, at the Chicago World’s Fair, she gave the most famous performance of her whole life. On that day she was arrested four times for exposing her body riding a white horse on a but later on people got aware that she was not nude in actual. An year after that, she appeared in movie, “Bolero”, with her most popular fan dance.

In 1936, she became the owner of The Music Box burlesque hall located at San Francisco. Currently this hall is known as Great American Music Hall.

After performing at the Golden Gate International Exposition in “Sally Rand’s Nude Ranch”, she became more popular. In 1939-40 this performance held in San Francisco.

She simply loved her profession and she continued dancing even in 1960s. She was wonderful performer. She died on August 31, 1979 in Glendora, California. She was 75 years old at the time of her death.

Sally Rand

Sally Rand

Sally Rand