Trudy Wayne, real name Gertrude
"Goldie" Goldberg, was born in California but moved with her family
to the east coast at an early age. She started out wanting to be an actress,
but soon gave this up to be a chorus dancer at the Roxy. Wayne's
big break came with the one of the burlesque dancer on the bill didn't
show and they needed someone who could fit into her costume. From then
on, this golden-haired beauty became one of burlesque's more classy and
glamorous stars appearing on stages all over the country in the 1950's.
She billed herself as "The Golden Girl from the Golden West."
Besides being a dancer, Wayne
also modeled for famed pin-up and fetish photographer Irving Klaw.
She modeled in the typical nylons and high heels outfits, staying away
from the bondage photos that Klaw also specialized in. Wayne
made the jump to film appearing along with other Klaw models
Bettie
Page and Tempest Storm
in the classic grindhouse film Teaserama
(1955). Wayne also appeared in men's magazines of the 1950's
most notably Gala and other magazines that focused mostly
on burlesque dancers.
According to her niece, Renee Zwerman,
Wayne
lived up to her "Goldie" nickname showing a great deal of compassion and
generosity to her fellow dancers. Zwerman is actively working
on making sure the current generation of burlesque fans remember Wayne
for the legend she was.
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