Candy Barr

Juanita Dale Slusher (July 6, 1935 – December 30, 2005), better known by her stage name Candy Barr, was an American stripper, burlesque dancer, actress, and adult model in men's magazines of the mid-20th century.

After serving three years in prison, Barr went to South Texas. She returned to stripping in the late 1960s, and posed for Oui magazine in 1976, then retired. In the early 1980s, Barr was acknowledged in the magazine Texas Monthly as one of history's "perfect Texans", along with other Texans, including Lady Bird Johnson. She also worked as a waitress before becoming an exotic dancer.

Career At age 16, Slusher appeared in one of the most famous and widely circulated of the early underground pornographic films, Smart Alec (1951). Because of the widespread "underground" distribution and popularity of the film, she has been called "the first porn star" by the media.

She originally told a men's magazine that she did the film for the money, as at the time, she said, she had a dollar.

She worked at Weinstein's Colony Club during her career as a porn star. Barr accompanied Cohen to the Saints and Sinners testimonial for Milton Berle in April 1959.

The mobster, who insisted he wanted to marry her, eventually sent her and her four-year-old daughter to Mexico so she could evade arrest. He arranged for her hair to be dyed by "hairdresser to the stars" Jack Sahakian, provided her with a fake birth certificate and Social Security card, and gave her $1,200 cash. He later sent her $500 after she was established in a Mexican hideaway. She became restless there, however, and returned to the United States. During this time, her interest in Cohen foundered.

Also in 1959, she was hired by 20th Century Fox Studios as a choreographer for Seven Thieves (1960). She taught actress Joan Collins how to "dance" for her role as a stripper and was given a credit as technical advisor. Barr was quoted as saying, "Anytime Miss Collins wants to leave the movies, she has it made in burlesque." In the first of her two autobiographical books, Past Imperfect, Collins describes Barr as "a down-to-earth girl with an incredibly gorgeous body and an angelic face... [who had] taught me more about sensuality than I had learned in all my years under contract".

Texas Governor John Connally pardoned her for the marijuana conviction in 1968. The film rights to Barr's early life story were purchased by producer Mardi Rustam in 1982. In 1984, Texas Monthly listed Barr alongside other Texans like Lady Bird Johnson as one of history's "perfect Texans".

Final years and death In 1992, Barr moved from Brownwood back to Edna. Living in quiet retirement with her animals at her rural home, she was content not to exploit or relive her past. She said she was never interested in arousing men, she just wanted to dance. On December 30, 2005, Barr died, at the age of 70, from complications from pneumonia at a hospital in Victoria, Texas. Her lip prints are part of the museum's display.

Sherilyn Fenn played the character of "Candy Cane", a stripper in the 1992 film Ruby. The character is a composite of Barr, Marilyn Monroe, and Judith Exner.

Filmography My Tale Is Hot (1964) includes a four-minute clip of an exotic dance routine by Candy Barr (ca. 1956). A History of the Blue Movie (1970) (clip segment from Smart Alec) Changes (1971) aka Sex U.S.A. Playboy: The Story of X (1998)