Toni Elling

Toni Elling (born Rosita Sims, May 13, 1928 – April 2, 2023), also known by her stage name Satin Doll, was an American burlesque dancer.

Elling was born in Detroit to Joseph and Myrtle Sims, the eldest of three children.

Elling was unhappy with her job as a telephone operator at the Michigan Bell telephone company where she had worked for nine years, because she could not get promoted because she was an African American. She took her stage name Satin Doll from her friend and confidant, bandleader Duke Ellington.

Some years into her dancing career, Elling asked if Duke Ellington could write her a song. Ellington responded that he has already done that and the song was called "Satin Doll.

The 1986 Richard Pryor directed film Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling featured a stripper character named Satin Doll.

Elling retired in 1974.

Minnette "Satin Doll" Wilson There was also another dancer and Milwaukee lounge owner who went by the performer name Satin Doll, Minnette Wilson, who died in 2017.

Wilson's Milwaukee establishment was known as Satin Doll's Lounge.