Georgia Sothern

Georgia Sothern, born Hazel Anderson in Georgia in 1913, was a burlesque dancer and vaudeville performer who became one of the notable figures of American burlesque entertainment before transitioning to Broadway. She died in 1981.

Sothern began performing at the age of 13 and built a career that took her across the United States, with tours through New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Buffalo, and Miami. Her shows drew large audiences, aided in part by advertising posters that generated significant public interest. Onstage, her performances were characterized by rapid movement and striptease, often accompanied by an orchestra playing uptempo numbers such as "Hold that Tiger." A performance of hers was preserved in a Film Theatarettes short film, providing a recorded document of her stage work.

During a 1939 visit to the Old Howard Athenaeum in Boston, Sothern sat for an interview with The Harvard Crimson. Among her professional relationships, she counted fellow Minsky star Gypsy Rose Lee and comedian Rags Ragland as close friends, referring to Ragland by the pet name "Ragged" in her memoir, titled Georgia: A Life in Burlesque, in which she chronicled her experiences in the entertainment world. Sothern was also a redhead, a physical detail that figured into her public persona.

Her career extended to Broadway, where she appeared between 1942 and 1943. She performed in the burlesque revue Star and Garter and the comedy The Naked Genius, both of which reflected her background in burlesque and popular entertainment. Sothern had a series of marriages over the course of her life.