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Carol Doda

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Carol Doda
Doda in 1965
Born
Carol Ann Doda

(1937-08-29)August 29, 1937
Vallejo, California, U.S.
DiedNovember 9, 2015(2015-11-09) (aged 78)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
OccupationTopless dancer
Children2

Carol Ann Doda (August 29, 1937 – November 9, 2015) was an American topless dancer based in San Francisco, California, who was active from the 1960s through the 1980s. She was the first public topless dancer in the United States.[1]

In 1964, Doda made international news, first by dancing topless at the city's Condor Club, then by reportedly enlarging her breasts from size 34B to 44DD through silicone injections. Notably, this reported transition would have been impossible. Possibly, Doda enlarged her breasts to measure 44 inches around the bust, and the 44DD assertion resulted from journalists misunderstanding how bra sizing works.[2] A year later, she was arrested along with the owners of the Condor Club, but all three of them were cleared of charges.[3] Her breasts became known as Doda's "twin 44s" and "the new Twin Peaks of San Francisco".[4]

Early life

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Carol Ann Doda was born August 29, 1937,[5] in Vallejo, California,[6] and grew up in San Francisco.[7] Her mother's maiden name was Hoss.[5] Her parents divorced in 1942[8] when she was four, and Doda dropped out of school and became a cocktail waitress at age 14.[9]

Topless entertainer

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Condor Club sign in San Francisco featuring Carol Doda, 1973, note blacked-out areas (taken down 1991)[10]

Doda attended the San Francisco Art Institute and worked as a waitress and lounge entertainer[9][11] at the Condor Club, located at the corner of Broadway and Columbus in the North Beach section of San Francisco.[12] Doda's act began with a grand piano being lowered from the ceiling by hydraulic motors: Doda would be on top of the piano dancing,[1][13] as it descended from a hole in the ceiling.[14] She go-go danced "The Swim" to a rock-and-roll combo headed by Bobby Freeman as her piano settled on the stage. (In 1983, assistant manager James "Jimmy the Beard" Ferrozzo was crushed to death by the hydraulic piano while lying on top of his naked stripper girlfriend, Theresa Hill. Hill survived.[15]) From the waist up, Doda imitated aquatic movements such as the front crawl. She also performed the Twist, The Frug, and the Watusi.[16]

On June 19, 1964,[14] when Doda was twenty-six years old, the Condor's publicist, "Big" Davy Rosenberg,[17] gave Doda a monokini topless swimsuit designed by Rudi Gernreich.[9] She performed topless that night, the first noted entertainer of the era to do so. The act was an instant success.[9] Two months after she started her semi-nude performances, the rest of San Francisco's Broadway went topless, followed soon after by entertainers across America.[11] Doda became an American cultural icon of the 1960s.[citation needed] She was profiled in Tom Wolfe's 1969 book The Pump House Gang,[18] and appeared that same year as Sally Silicone in Head, the 1968 film created by Jack Nicholson and Bob Rafelson, and featuring The Monkees. In the movie, produced by Columbia Pictures,[19] she appears in a Golden Boy parody segment with Annette Funicello, Sonny Liston, and Davy Jones.[20][21]

Encouraged by her success, Doda underwent silicone injections to enlarge her breasts.[11] Doda became renowned for her bigger bust, and was one of the first well-known performers to have her breasts artificially enlarged.[11] She had 44 injections, a large dose of silicone, at a cost of US$1,500.[11] Reportedly, her breasts were insured for $1.5 million with Lloyd's of London.[22]

For the topless and waterless Swim, Doda wore the bottom half of a black bikini and a net top which ended where a bathing suit generally began.[12] She performed twelve shows nightly so the management could keep crowds moving in and out. A large illuminated sign in front of the club featured a cartoon of her with red flashing lights representing her nipples.[4]

Bottomless entertainer

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Historical marker at the original Condor Club site. Full text: "The Condor; Where it all began; The birthplace of the world's first topless & bottomless entertainment; Topless – June 19, 1964 Bottomless – September 3, 1969 Starring Ms. Carol Doda; San Francisco, California"

On September 3, 1969, Carol Doda began dancing bottomless (i.e., totally nude) at the Condor. She danced bottomless until the California Alcoholic Beverages Commission passed a rule in the autumn of 1972 prohibiting nude dancing in places that served alcohol.[23]

In 1969, Doda performed with The TAC squad, a bottomless all-girl band at Carol Doda's at 430 Broadway in San Francisco.[24][25]

Court appearances

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On April 22, 1965, Doda was arrested along with Pete Mattioli and Gino del Prete, owners of the Condor Club. They were cleared when two judges instructed not-guilty verdicts. Judge Friedman's memorandum to opposing attorneys reads, "Whether acts ... are lewd and dissolute depends not on any individual's interpretation or personal opinion, but on the consensus of the entire community ..." Doda and del Prete were arrested during police raids to stop bare-bosom shows in North Beach.[3] Peter Mattioli owned the Condor Club by 1967 and Doda still appeared in shows there.[26]

In 1969, Doda was a witness during the trial of two all-nude dancers who were arrested for "indecent exposure and lewd and dissolute conduct". The defendants were dancers at the Pink Pussy Kat in Orangevale, California. Presiding Municipal Court Judge Earl Warren Jr. moved the trial, temporarily, from the courtroom to Chuck Landis Largo club. There, Doda performed to live song and dance numbers, along with a movie titled Guru You. She was cross-examined by a deputy district attorney about what she hoped to convey to audiences in her act. Doda was dressed in a red miniskirt with dark blue piping and beige boots. She responded that the movie represents "a satire of pornography ... it's to show people the humorous side of sex". Several members of the 10-man, 2-woman jury kept in check their smiles as Doda explained the 17-minute movie. The deputy district attorney opposed asking her to perform, considering it irrelevant to the case. He was overruled by Warren.[27]

Later career

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From the late-1960s through the late-1970s, Doda was the spokesmodel for what is now the San Jose, California television station KICU-TV Channel 36, then known as KGSC-TV. Filmed from the waist up and wearing clothes which amplified her most prominent physical attributes, she became known for saying "You're watching the Perfect 36 in San Jose." She would also occasionally appear on-air to do a double entendre laced editorial commentary on the issues of the day.[28]

Doda appeared as Sadie Thompson in "Rain", at the Encore Theater SF, beginning January 1968.[29][30]

In 1982 Doda was again dancing at the Condor three times a night. She was 45 years old, yet performed to rock 'n' roll, blues, and ragtime. Each act was the same, with Doda appearing in a gold gown, elbow-length gloves, and a diaphanous wraparound. Her clothing was removed one piece at a time until she wore only a g-string and the diaphanous wraparound. In the final portion she was attired in only the wraparound. Her small body looked slimmer without clothes, a perception which was emphasized by the dwarfing effect of her breasts. At the time she was taking dance and voice lessons, but had no definite plans for her future.[11] Doda quit performing in December 1985.[30]

During the 1980s, Doda performed throughout Bay Area dance night clubs with her band The Lucky Stiffs.[31][32]

Doda retired from stripping in the 1980s and subsequently ran Carol Doda's Champagne and Lace Lingerie Boutique, a lingerie shop in San Francisco.[33]

Throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, Doda performed fully clothed at several San Francisco North Beach bars and clubs, including Gino & Carlo, Amante's, and Enrico's Supper Club.[9]

Personal life

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On November 9, 2015, Doda died of kidney failure at St. Luke's Hospital in San Francisco after a long stay.[34][32] Doda said that she never married, but California newspapers recounted two early marriages. On July 17, 1954, at 16, she married Tommy Gene Smith of Vallejo.[35] [36] She gave birth to two children with Smith and had little contact with them: a daughter, Donna Smith Terzian, who predeceased her, and a son, Tom Smith.[32] She married a second time on August 16, 1959, in Reno, Nevada, to Donald L. Sorensen.[37] The article reporting their marriage said that the couple lived and worked at the time in Vallejo, California. It also said she had graduated from Vallejo High School.

Recognition

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In Yosemite National Park, Doda Dome was named for her.[38]

Carol Doda Topless at the Condor is a documentary about the birth of topless dancing in San Francisco in 1964.[39][40]

The history and impact of the Condor Club, including Doda's role in it, was described in the 2018 book Three Nights at the Condor, written by Benita Mattioli, wife of Condor owner, Peter Mattioli.[41][42][43]

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b Levy, Alan (March 11, 1966). "A Morality Play in Three Acts". Life. Vol. 60, no. 10. Time Inc. pp. 79–87. ISSN 0024-3019. Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. "But this is June 1964 and The Condor is going broke." (p. #?) "And that same night Miss Carol Doda, 23 — a former prune-picker, file clerk, ballroom dance instructor and cocktail waitress whose measurements at the time are 34-25-36 — dances The Swim bare from the waist up." (p. 79) "Here are the two pioneers of Toplessness: Big Davey Rosenberg — who thought up the gimmick — watching Carol Doda, the girl who first danced that way in public." (Photo caption, p. 79)
  2. ^ "Bra Sizes Explained". Uplifted Lingerie. Uplifted Lingerie Ltd. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Topless Suits in Shows OK", Los Angeles Times, May 8, 1965, Page 9.
  4. ^ a b Hamlin, Jesse (August 1, 1999). "Where Are They Now? Doda's Body of Work Only Got Bigger". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on July 29, 2013.
  5. ^ a b "The Birth of Carol Ann Doda". Archived from the original on 2018-01-09.
  6. ^ "Celebrity San Francisco Stripper Carol Doda Led Quiet Early Life in Vallejo". San Jose Mercury. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  7. ^ Roberts, Sam (November 11, 2015). "Carol Doda, Pioneer of Topless Entertainment, Dies at 78". The New York Times. p. B18. Archived from the original on July 6, 2017.
  8. ^ "DODA - Divorce granted". Napa Journal. Napa County, California. 24 April 1942. pp. 6–10. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d e Fagan, Kevin (August 23, 2009). "After 45 years, stripper still packs 'em in". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015.
  10. ^ "Topless Era Sign to Be Stripped Away : Renovation: S.F. Condor club's landmark 40-foot likeness of dancer Carol Doda is to be taken down and displayed inside. The nightclub is being remodeled as a cafe and dance spot". Los Angeles Times. 23 August 1991. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  11. ^ a b c d e f "Silicon [sic] made topless dancing blossom", Chicago Daily Herald, April 28, 1982, Page 21.
  12. ^ a b "Nudity, Noise Pay Off in Bay Area Night Clubs". Los Angeles Times. February 14, 1965. p. G5.
  13. ^ Berger, Arthur (Fall 1970). "Varieties of Topless Experience". Journal of Popular Culture. 4 (2): 419–424. doi:10.1111/j.0022-3840.1970.0402_419.x. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
  14. ^ a b "California Solons May Bring End To Go-Go-Girl Shows In State", Panama City, Florida News, September 15, 1969, Page 12A.
  15. ^ Fagan, Kevin (May 28, 2009). "San Francisco's Top 10 sex scandals". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Image 5 of 8.
  16. ^ "Topless Craze in S.F. – It's a Jungle of Sweaty Gyrations", Los Angeles Times, September 8, 1965, Page C11.
  17. ^ "Carol Doda, 1960s Topless Stripper Dancer vintage original news press photo". eBay. Archived from the original on 9 September 2021. Doda & Rosenberg
  18. ^ Tom Wolfe (1969). "The Put-Together Girl". The Pump House Gang. New York City: Bantam Books. ASIN B008H54QF0.
  19. ^ "Movie Call Sheet", Los Angeles Times, March 11, 1968, Page C32.
  20. ^ "Monkees Cavort In 'Head' at the Vogue", Los Angeles Times, November 20, 1968, Page G18.
  21. ^ Rabin, Nathan (3 April 2015). "The Monkees' only feature film was successful, surreal professional suicide". The Dissolve. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  22. ^ Kevin Fagan; Sam Whiting (Nov 11, 2015). "Legendary S.F. stripper Carol Doda dies at 78". SFGate. Hearst Communications, Inc. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  23. ^ NYT, The (December 6, 1972). "NIGHTCLUBS SCORE RULE ON SEX ACTS (Published 1972)". The New York Times. p. 25. Archived from the original on March 6, 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  24. ^ "The Tac Squad Are Actually a Bottomless Band". The Times. 20 June 1969. p. 49.
  25. ^ "San Francisco Theatres: The Phoenix Theatre".
  26. ^ "S.F. Pair Plan Topless Club", Los Angeles Times, April 19, 1967, Page D15.
  27. ^ "Judge Takes Another Look At 'Dodo's Indecent Dance'", Long Beach Press-Telegram, September 23, 1969, Page 32.
  28. ^ "What's Cooking At Francesco's". Oakland Tribune. December 14, 1974. p. 18–E. "Carol Doda; the Perfect 36 (Channel 36's editorial voice and figure) has been in for dinner several times recently."
  29. ^ "San Francisco Bay Guardian Issue 02.04". 1967.
  30. ^ a b "Herb Caen made Carol Doda a fixture in his column". San Francisco Chronicle. 12 November 2015. Archived from the original on 2020-11-29. Retrieved 9 September 2021. Starting Jan. 20, when she will play Sadie Thompson (Sonny Tufts!!??) in a Keith Rockwell-Phil Sinclair production of "Rain" at the Encore Theater on Mason. ... played a bit part (is that possible?) in the new Monkees-Victor Mature picture ... Carol Doda signed a new one-year contract at the Condor, having got the raise she was threatening to hold in for. ... Channel 36 has dropped Carol Doda, the perfect 44, as its theme girl because she wanted a bit more loot ... Carol Doda's twin 44s will soon become part of the permanent collection at the SF Museum of Art ... Carol Doda quit the Condor last month but her name is still up in lights so she has commanded her lawyer, Haig Harris Jr., to file suit against Condor owner David Benson. ...
  31. ^ Wagner, Paul (22 January 1988). "Carol Doda Rocks". Santa Cruz Sentinel.
  32. ^ a b c Fagan, Kevin; Whiting, Sam (November 11, 2015). "Legendary S.F. stripper Carol Doda dies at 78". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on November 12, 2015. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
  33. ^ Hyena, Hank (September 7, 1999). "Voluminous Femininity / Bra shopping at Carol Doda's boutique". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
  34. ^ Mabry, Jan (November 11, 2015). "Legendary SF Burlesque Performer Carol Doda Dies At 78". CBS San Francisco. Archived from the original on November 12, 2015. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
  35. ^ Ancestry.com, Operations Inc. (2013). "California, U.S., Marriage Index, 1949-1959". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  36. ^ "Marriage Licenses: Smith-Doda". The Press Journal (Santa Rosa, California). July 20, 1954. p. 8. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  37. ^ "Carol Doda, Don Sorensen Wed in Reno". The Solano Napa News Chronicle. 20 August 1959. p. 4. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  38. ^ Blitzo (October 13, 2007). "Doda Dome Rock Climbing". mountainproject.com. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  39. ^ "Current Projects". Sub-Basement Archival. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  40. ^ "Topless at the Condor the Carol Doda Story". Parker Film Company. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  41. ^ "Benita Mattioli at Readers' Books on Jan. 22". The Sonama Index-Tribune. 20 January 2020.
  42. ^ Mattioli, Benita (2018). Three Nights at the Condor: A Coal Miner's Son, Carol Doda, and the Topless Revolution. Keisho Publications. ISBN 978-0-578-41667-0.
  43. ^ Taylor, Dan (10 January 2020). "What was it like to own San Francisco's 1st topless nightclub? Local author tells the inside story". Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
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  • "Herbert Feinstein talks with Carol Doda, former topless queen of North Beach, who is starring as Miss Sadie Thompson in a play based on W. Somerset Maugham's short story "Rain." Doda discusses her past (including silicone injections) and her future plans for non-topless nightclub work."
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