Lilly Christine, “The Cat Girl”, burst on the scene in the late 1940s and quickly leaped to the top, headlining Leon Prima’s New Orleans hotspot the 500 Club and eventually strutting her stuff on Broadway. Her belly dance-inspired moves fascinated audiences up until her tragically early death.
Learn more about the sensational Lilly Christine in the latest #MuseumAtHome video — one of a series featuring pictures and artifacts from the Burlesque Hall of Fame archives!
Comments(10)
Shelby Arr says:
September 22, 2021 at 1:53 pmThank you so much for this informative video about Lily Cat Christine! I have a signed photo of her on my wall that I found in an old box of an Italian ancestor that fought in the Korean War. I believe she danced for the soldiers before giving them these signed copies!
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. says:
October 9, 2022 at 7:07 amOutstanding video…thanks for preserving history!
Christine Jacobson says:
January 9, 2024 at 12:17 amVery interesting video! She was a pioneer and way ahead of her time. Madonna can’t hold a candle to her. LOL
Keith Scoviak says:
May 21, 2024 at 3:33 amI have have a large collection I would like to share photos of.
Burlesque Hall of Fame says:
May 22, 2024 at 1:23 pmHi Keith! We’d love to see what you’ve got. Email our curator at collection@burlesquehall.com.
Shaun says:
October 12, 2024 at 3:35 pmAbsolutely amazing woman. She had pazaz.
What a woman. Ahead of her time. Agile. Sexy and skilful says:
October 14, 2024 at 8:56 pmA sexy lady. Skilful and dedicated to her profession
CHRIS KELLY says:
November 8, 2024 at 3:29 pmShe was years ahead of the game in the make-up dept. Very hot lower unit.
Ashley says:
January 9, 2026 at 6:39 pmShe was my great grandmother’s sister! Such a beautiful soul❤️
Amy Bellorin says:
April 2, 2026 at 8:12 pmHi, I’ve been doing some research on your family, and it turns out you’re right—there is a relative named Dorothy Pompender, who would be Dorothy Guest after she got married. I’m not sure if she’s your great-grandmother, but she passed away in 2002. I spent hours looking for photos of Lilly, who was your great-grandmother’s sister, and I found photos from her youth. I don’t know why, but I wanted to know more about her, so I kept looking for photos of her with her family. I found them, but you had to pay, and honestly, that’s a bit of a stretch for me. Anyway, I wanted to find photos of Dorothy, but I couldn’t find any either. I hope that if you have photos of the two of them, you could send them to my email or post them here on the forum. Lilly was really beautiful, by the way. I’d also like to see their mother and their brother—I’m really curious about them.