John Waters’s Favorite Stripper: Lady Zorro

The Butch Local Girl Who Looked Like Victor Mature

By Burlesque Babes (burlesquebabes.wordpress.com, 2/26/2015)

Her real name was Sheila Alberta Bowater.

Get by with a little help from my friends…
A reader kindly posted a helpful comment to my original bio-less Lady Zorro post.

Here’s the comment that led me to find out a little about Lady Zorro’s hard life. On October 11, 2009, Alex wrote:

“… John Waters mentions a dancer named Zorro on page 75 of his book, Crackpot. He writes,”She’d stomp around the stage naked after removing her cape and mast, sneer at the audience with pure contempt, and snarl, ‘What are you lookin’ at?’ — Could it be the same lady? …”

John Waters goes on to compare Lady Zorro’s looks to ruggedly-handsome actor Victor Mature. After seeing their photos side-by-side, I’d have to say he’s right — and that there must have been only one Lady Zorro!

Here are some quotes from John Water’s book, CRACKPOT, which was reissued in 2003 with updates from the author. Sadly, he informs us that Lady Zorro is no longer with us. I hope her daughter does write the book that John encouraged her to write.

You can read some pages of CRACKPOT on google-books here.

Crack that whip! Lady Zorro.

Above, left, “Lady Zorro” during her Baltimore stripping days in the 1960s; right, Zorro, smoking from an aluminum can, later in life. (from ROLE MODELS by John Waters)

Lady Zorro, on a pedestal.

Continue reading “Lady Zorro Sexy Burlesque Stripper” at burlesquebabes.wordpress.com.

Related Links:

Lady Zorro’s obituary (Baltimore Sun, February 8, 2001)