Lili St. Cyr helped take the striptease out of the burlesque halls and put it on the glittering stages of the newly created Las Vegas. She was extravagant, elegant, dazzling and always demure. She helped create the Vegas sensibility of bigger is always better. She will be forever known for her trademarked acts, taking a bath on stage and the reverse strip. She was also known for her pin-up photography, especially for the photos taken by Bernard of Hollywood.  In fact, Bernard was known to have said that St. Cyr was his favorite model and referred to her as his muse. 
     Besides dancing and modeling, St. Cyr tried her hand at the silver screen, starring in the schlock-fest "Son of Sinbad" (1955)  and the movie version of Norman Mailer's "The Naked and the Dead" (1958). You cannot think of the pantheon of classic dancers without thinking of St. Cyr.
     In 2007, a great biography of St. Cyr was published titled Gilded Lili: Lili St. Cyr and the Striptease Mystique. You can read a review of it here.