High Heels and Headdresses

Book excerpt: In the golden age of the showgirl, dancers were treated like royalty. But Las Vegas legend Betty Bunch was no pampered princess. In her thirty years on the stage, screen, and television, she faced everything from a threatening tiger and menacing movie elephants to leering mob men and bait-in-switch producers.Betty impressed and worked with many of the day's best known stars. She danced in the movies South Pacific, Bells Are Ringing, Imitation of Life and others, as well as performing at nine Las Vegas resorts. Betty spent time on the road as a featured dancer with Tony Martin, Louis Prima and and the Witnesses, Jimmy Durante, and three television specials with Dean Martin. She was a featured performer in the original company of Bottoms Up at Caesars Palace.In recognition of Betty's talent, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada's largest daily newspaper named her as one of Las Vegas' best showgirls of all time.