Jennie Lee

Jennie Lee (born Virginia Lee Hicks, October 23, 1928 – March 24, 1990) was an American stripper, burlesque entertainer, pin-up model, union activist, and a minor role movie actress, who performed several striptease acts in nightclubs during the 1950s and 1960s. She was also known as "the Bazoom Girl", "the Burlesque Version of Jayne Mansfield", and "Miss 44 and Plenty More".

Early life She was born with the name Virginia Lee Hicks on October 23, 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri. Due to her figure (42D"–26"–37), she became known as "The Bazoom Girl," "The Burlesque Version of Jayne Mansfield," and eventually, "Miss 44 and Plenty More". By the early fifties she broke into acting with minor roles in Peek-A-Boo (1953), Abandon (1958), Cold Wind in August (1961), and 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt (1964) with Mamie Van Doren. Despite her ambitions of mainstream stardom, she found herself typecast in side roles, and never got her acting career off the ground.

In 1955, she helped start a union for dancers, The Exotic Dancers' League of North America (or EDL), acting as the club's first president. By the late 1960s, an aging Lee lost interest in her own burlesque career but was still interested in supporting the next generation of Exotic Dancers and memorializing her generation of burlesque performers.

Lee died in 1991 at the age of 61 from cancer. With her death, fellow burlesque dancer, Dixie Evans, took over the Exotic World museum and helped keep burlesque and Lee's legacy alive.

In 1958, she was immortalized in the song "Jennie Lee", recorded by Jan & Arnie. The song was credited to Jan & Arnie because Dean Torrence was in the army at the time of the recording so their friend Arnie Ginsburg recorded the song with Jan Berry.