Lily Ann Rose

Burlesque dancer and stripper Lily Ann Rose was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Lily grew up in a family that had worked in vaudeville. In 1947 Rose took the train from her home north of Boston into the city and managed to talk her way into the chorus line of a risque burlesque show. Within a year's time Lily was the protege and partner of dancer Sally Keith. Rose was banned in Boston following an incident in which she accidentally bared her breasts while performing her opening night act onstage at a club. Lily continued dancing and performing in burlesque until she was twenty-one. Rose went on to get married three times, had several children, worked as both a waitress and a beautician, and settled down in Florida. In 2009 the city councilors of Cambridge declared April 10 to be Lily Ann Rose Day in Lily's honor.