Legend: Sherry Britton

Sherry Britton: Featured Legend for Red Hots Burlesque

Celebrating one of our favorite classy bad-ass legends, Red Hots Burlesque honors

SHERRY BRITTON
b. July 28, 1918

Sometimes you need a stone-cold fox in your life. One of our favorites is the dark-haired burlesque artist Sherry Britton, who performed during what was considered the Golden Age of burlesque. Known for her 18-inch waist hourglass figure that would not quit as well as her rather controversial mouth — one of her more famous quotes was “I strip, but I don’t tease.” — Britton was often called “Great Britton, a stripteuse with brains.” Indeed, after she quit performing Britton attended Fordham University and graduated magna cum laude in pre-law at the age of 63 despite having not attended high school as a teenager. As a child her mother left an abusive household, leaving Britton to be shuffled between foster homes and her aunt and uncle’s home. By 15 she was living with a man who became abusive. Britton began stripping to escape the relationship. One of the last great stars of the NYC burlesque scene before the sanitizing of the city, Britton was famous for balancing glasses of water on her breasts or stripping off chiffon evening gowns to classical music. She began a successful acting career in the late ’40s. Britton retired in New York, where she lived with her poodle Miss Rich Bitch until she died in 2008 at the age of 89.