Rusty Warren
Born
Ilene Goldman

(1930-03-20)March 20, 1930[1][2]
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedMay 25, 2021(2021-05-25) (aged 91)
Laguna Hills, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Comedian, singer
Websitewww.rustywarren.com

Rusty Warren (born Ilene Goldman; March 20, 1930[1] – May 25, 2021) was an American comedian[3][4][5] and singer, specializing in sex-related themes and such songs as "Bounce Your Boobies" and "Knockers Up!".[6]

Early life

Warren was born in New York City in 1930 and adopted six months later by Helen and Herbert Goldman, a couple from Milton, Massachusetts, who named her Ilene Goldman. She graduated from Milton High School around 1948, studied piano at the New England Conservatory of Music, graduating around 1954, and later taught there briefly after obtaining her degree. She spent her first free summer entertaining in small lounges.[7] Her musical mentor at the time was Arthur Fiedler, the conductor of the Boston Pops.

"Late at night, there’d be nobody in these places (cocktail lounges in the Boston area), to cut the boredom, I got some repartee going with the regulars."[7]

Career

In 1955, Warren began at The Pomp Room, at 16th Street and Camelback Road, Phoenix, AZ. Songs for Sinners was recorded there, for Jubilee Records, and released in November 1958. Knockers Up! was recorded at The Golden Falcon, Pompano Beach, Florida,[8] and released in November 1960.

GNP Crescendo Records reissued some of her Jubilee albums. Known as the "Knockers Up Gal", she has been called the "mother of the sexual revolution".[9] Her career began in the early 1950s in Phoenix, Arizona. Later she moved her act to Las Vegas, Nevada.[3] Her comedy routines exposed the subject of sex from a female perspective. Her most famous contribution to the sexual revolution was the song "Knockers Up" from the 1960 album of the same name.[10]

SCTV comedian Catherine O'Hara performed a character called Dusty Towne who was based on Warren.

Elizabeth Rizzo self-published Rusty Warren - The Knockers Up Gal, containing excerpts from news articles and magazine articles in chronological order.

In 2014, some of Rusty Warren's music (Knockers Up) was provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises and could be subscribed at the Rusty Warren - Topic[11] channel; it is now set to private. In 2023, some of Rusty Warren's music was provided to YouTube by CDBaby[12] and Symphonic Distribution[13] and can be subscribed at the @rustywarrenknockersupgal[14] channel.

Personal life

Her life partner was Elizabeth Rizzo from 1984 to 2019 and they resided in Hawaii after moving from Paradise Valley, Arizona.

Rusty Warren died in her sleep on May 25, 2021, at the age of 91.[15][7][16][17][18]

Legacy

The Rusty Warren collection,[19] with news articles, photographs, slides, video footage from her Las Vegas shows, magazines, promotional materials, letters, performance contracts, handwritten notes, pertaining to her career as a comedian, spanning from 1955 through the late 1980s, is in the archives of the Library of Congress and on display at the National Comedy Museum.

Discography

Albums

  • Songs for Sinners – Jubilee JGM 2024 (1959)
  • Knockers Up! – Jubilee JGM 2029 (1960)
  • Sin-sational – Jubilee JGM 2034 (1961)
  • Rusty Warren Bounces Back – Jubilee JGM 2039 (1961)
  • Rusty Warren in Orbit – Jubilee JGM 2044 (1962)
  • Banned in Boston? – Jubilee JGM 2049 (1963)
  • Sex-x-ponent – Jubilee JGM 2054 (1964)
  • Rusty Sings a Portrait of Life – Jubilee JGS 5025 (1964)
  • More Knockers Up! – Jubilee JGM 2059 (1965)
  • Rusty Rides Again – Jubilee JGM 2064 (1967)
  • Bottoms Up! – Jubilee JGM 2069 (1969)
  • Look What I Got for You – Jubilee JGS 2074 (1969)
  • Lays It on the Line – GNP-Crescendo GNPS-2081 (1974)
  • Knockers Up '76 – GNP-Crescendo GNPS-2088 (1976)
  • Sexplosion – GNP-Crescendo GNPS-2114 (1977)

Reissued albums

  • Knockers Up! / Songs For Sinners – GNP-Crescendo GNP 2-2079 1973 (reissue of Jubilee JGM 2029 and JGM 2024)
  • Bounces Back / Sin-sational – GNP-Crescendo GNP 2-2080 1973 (reissue of Jubilee JGM 2039 and JGM 2034)
  • Bottoms Up! – GNP-Crescendo GNPS-2103 (1976) (reissue of Jubilee JGM 2069)

Singles

  • "Knockers Up" / "Basin Street" / "Bounce Your Boobies" / "Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" – Jubilee 45-2039 (1961)
  • "Roll Me Over" / Do It Now / "Twist Blues" – Jubilee 45-2049 (1962)
  • "I Like Everybody" / "Waltz Me Around Again Willie" / "Greenback Dollar" / "The Sexy Life" – Jubilee 45-2059 (1963)
  • "The Pill Song" / "Surprise" / "Red River Sally" / "Steel Drivin' Man" – Jubilee 45-2069 (1964)

DVD

Label GNP Crescendo produced a DVD that chronicles her life in show business. The DVD, Rusty Warren: Knockers Up! The Lady Behind the Laughs, was released by GNP Crescendo in 2008.

Further reading

  • Nesteroff, Kliph (June 27, 2010). "The Life and Times of Rusty Warren". Beware of the Blog. WFMU. In 1954 Ilene Goldman was a recent graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music. She spent her first free summer entertaining in small lounges. A rare exception was her participation in a salient twenty-one piano tribute to Chopin directed by future PBS favorite Arthur Fiedler.
  • McKim, Brian; Skene, Traci. "Interview with Rusty Warren". Sheckymagazine. WELCOME TO FORT LIQUORDALE IN THE WINTER. I played there from after or on New Year's 'til up to spring break, when I would go back to Scottsdale, AZ, 'til before summer, then head off for another tour of the country.
  • Mock, Roberta (27 September 2016). Jewish Women on Stage, Film, and Television. Springer. doi:10.1007/978-1-137-06713-5. ISBN 978-1-137-06713-5.
  • Gaw, Melanie (2021). Joan Rivers: Comedy and Identity on the Road to Fashion Police. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Theses and Dissertations. 2783. Retrieved 24 October 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 Some sources have incorrectly cited March 17, 1930 or March 17, 1931 as Warren's date of birth
  2. ↑ "Ilene F Goldman in household of Herbert Goldman, "United States Census, 1940", giving age as 10 in 1940 census; accessed May 14, 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Life of the Party". Las Vegas Review-Journal. November 15, 2009.
  4. ↑ McLellan, Dennis (July 16, 1992). "'PRETTY RELATABLE STUFF': Carol Leifer Tells Jokes She Hopes People Can Identify With". The Los Angeles Times.
  5. ↑ Vineyard, Jennifer (April 4, 2014). "Bette Midler on Soph, Janis Joplin, and Her Early Years in New York City".
  6. ↑ K. Arnold, Thomas (March 1, 1988). "Dr. Demento to Make San Diego House Call". The Los Angeles Times.
  7. 1 2 3 Ruelas, Richard (May 27, 2021). "Rusty Warren, pioneering and bawdy comic who made her name in Phoenix, dead at 91". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  8. ↑ "The Golden Falcon Hotel - View of the Pool and Ocean". CardCow.com. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  9. ↑ Mock, Roberta (2007). Jewish Women on Stage, Film and Television. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-349-73850-2.
  10. ↑ New interview with Rusty Warren, classicshowbiz.blogspot.com, July 2010; accessed November 20, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Rusty Warren - Topic - YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2017-09-17.
  12. ↑ "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries". YouTube.
  13. ↑ "In Orbit (Part 2)". YouTube.
  14. ↑ "Rusty Warren - YouTube". YouTube.
  15. ↑ "Rusty Warren, an often overlooked comedy trailblazer, dead at 91".
  16. ↑ "Rusty Warren obituary". thetimes.co.uk. 24 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  17. ↑ Schudel, Matt (28 May 2021). "Rusty Warren, whose racy jokes about sex made her a '60s comedy star, dies at 91". Washington Post. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  18. ↑ Genzlinger, Neil (May 28, 2021). "Rusty Warren, Brash Comic in a Strait-Laced Time, Dies at 91". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  19. ↑ https://www2.archivists.org/sites/all/files/Performance_WinterSpring_2022_FinalDraft_0.pdf
Gift of Rusty Warren's sister, Elizabeth Rizzo, April 2018.
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