Carol Doda
| Carol Doda | ||
 Doda in 1965 | ||
| Background information | ||
| Born as: | Carol Ann Doda | |
| Born | Aug 29, 1937 Vallejo, California, U.S. | |
| Died | Nov 9, 2015 - age 77 San Francisco, U.S. kidney failure | |
| Children: | Donna Smith Terzian Tom Smith | |
| Occupation: | Topless dancer / Entertainer | |
Carol Ann Doda (✦August 29, 1937 - †November 9, 2015) was a topless dancer in San Francisco, California, who was active from the 1960s through the 1980s. She was the first public topless dancer.
Carol Doda was a famous stripper in San Francisco, California in the 1960s.
Topless entertainer
She worked as a topless waitress at the Condor Night Club in the North Beach section of San Francisco. The club was located at the corner of Broadway and Columbus. The large, lighted sign in front of the club featured a picture of her. Her premiere topless dance came on the night of June 19, 1964. Doda's act began with a grand piano lowered from the ceiling by hydraulic motors; Doda would be atop the piano dancing. She descended from a ture hole in the ceiling. She danced the Swim to a rock and roll combo as her piano settled on the stage. From the waist up Doda emulated aquatic movements like the Australian crawl. She also did the Twist, the Frug, and the Watusi. 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. Doda performed 12 shows nightly so that management could keep crowds moving in and out. She was 19 or 20 years of age when she first danced at the Condor. Two months after she started her topless act, the rest of San Francisco's Broadway was topless, followed soon after by the rest of America.
Doda was renowned for her big bust, one of the first well-known to be surgically enhanced. Her bust was a size 34B before silicone injections increased her to 44D. She had 44 injections, a very large dose of silicon.
Doda became a cultural icon of the 1960s. She was profiled in Tom Wolfe's 1968 book The Pump House Gang and appeared that same year as Sally Silicone in Head, the 1968 film created by Jack Nicholson and Bob Rafelson and featuring The Monkees. The movie was produced by Columbia Pictures. She appeared in a Golden Boy parody with Annette Funicello, Sonny Liston, and Davy Jones.
Carol Doda dancing on her piano at the condor Club
Carol Doda
"At work"
Court appearances
On April 22, 1965, Doda and Gino del Prete, owner of the Condor Club were arrested. They were cleared when two judges instructed innocent verdicts. Judge Friedman's memorandum to opposing attorneys read, Whether acts...are lewd and dissolute depends not on any individual's interpretation or personal opinion, but on the consensus of the entire community... del Prete and Doda were arrested during police raids to stop bare-bosom shows in North Beach (San Francisco).
Doda was a witness during the trial of two all-nude dancers who were arrested for indecent exposure and lewd and dissolute conduct, in 1969. 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 entitled 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 (sewing) and beige boots. She responded that the movie emulates a satire of pornography...it's to show people the humorous side of sex. Several 10-man, 2-woman jury members kept their smiles in check as Doda explained the 17-minute movie. The deputy district attorney opposed asking her to perform, considering it irrelevant to the case. Warren overruled him.
Later career
From the late 1960s through the late 1970s, Doda was the spokesmodel for San Jose, California television station KICU Channel 36. Filmed from the waist up and wearing clothes that amplified her most prominent physical attributes, she would coo, "You're watching the Perfect 36 in San Jose." She would also occasionally appear on-air to do editorial commentary on the day's issues.
In 1982, Doda was again dancing at the Condor three times a night. She was 36 or 37 and performed rock 'n' roll, blues, and ragtime. Each act was the same, with Doda appearing in a gold gown, traditional elbow-length gloves, and a diaphanous-wraparound. Her clothing was removed 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.
Doda retired from stripping in the 1980s and now runs a lingerie shop in San Francisco.
For several years, as of 2007, Doda has been singing in several North Beach (San Francisco) clubs, including Amante's and Enrico's Supper Club.
Personal life
On November 9, 2015, Doda died of kidney failure at St. Luke's Hospital in San Francisco after a long stay. Doda said she was never married. While very young, she gave birth to two children with whom she had little contact: daughter Donna Smith Terzian, who predeceased her, and son Tom Smith.
- Also see [ List of strippers ]
External links
- Carol Doda at the Internet Movie Database
- NNDB listing: Carol Doda
- The Candy Pitch
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