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Lili St. Cyr was one of the finest ecdysiasts ever, and is justly placed in the pantheon with Gypsy Rose Lee, Blaze Starr, and Tempest Storm. As a subject of racy cheesecake photos, she could nearly hold her own with the fabulous Betty Page. The woman knew how to sell sex, or at least the visual simulacrum of it. Standing five-foot-six, and featuring nearly ideal 36-24-36 dimensions, she was built to please. But it was her seductive moves that made her a star. She was most famous for a bathtub routine, in which she emerged from a bubbly tub, froth clinging strategically to her naughty bits. But her repertoire also featured narratives like "Suicide," in which she tried to woo a straying lover by revealing her body, and "Jungle Goddess," an exotic number where she appeared to have relations with a parrot. Born Willis Marie van Schaack in Minneapolis, St. Cyr studied ballet. She began working in show business as a chorus girl, then found her niche in vaudevillian ecdysis. Her first fame came in Montreal, where she remained a regional phenomenon for many years. By age 23 she was known as "Queen of the Strippers." Renowned for her public exposures, she bestowed her favors rather freely in private too. She is said to have had romances with the likes of Orson Welles and Victor Mature, as well as a string of well-heeled businessmen who kept her well-supplied with jewels and furs. St. Cyr got a break in Hollywood after she was charged with indecent exposure for her bathtub act. When she beat the rap, the publicity led to a movie contract, and she appeared in a number of low-budget movies like Son of Sinbad (1955) and I, Mobster (1958). She also had a role in The Naked and the Dead (1958). She didn't play the dead. One of her several ex-husbands, Ted Jordan, claimed in his book Norma Jean: My Secret Life with Marilyn Monroe that America's iconic sex bomb had learned her chops by imitating St. Cyr. As age caught up with St. Cyr she operated a mail order business selling lingerie. But like so many in the sex business, she fell into drug and alcohol abuse. In later years she was supported mainly by friends. One supporter was Brian Macdonald, director and choreographer of "Gypsy," the Gypsy Rose Lee story. "She was an extraordinarily glamorous woman with a very, very beautiful body," he said. "And she had this wonderful haughtiness. After she'd taken a few things off, she'd half cover herself with the curtain and say, 'That's it boys. You're not getting' any more from me.'" She was 80