Tempest Storm Biography

Her academic performance was not too good. She dropped out of school in the seventh grade and never attended school after that. By the time she was fourteen, she had been sexually abused quite a few times. Those traumatic times had a bad influence on her psyche.

Soon, she moved to Columbus and started working as an inspector at ‘Archer Hosiery Co.’ She was just fifteen years old at that time. Her salary was meager, and it became increasingly difficult for her to support herself. It seemed that her big Hollywood dreams would remain unfulfilled.

Her parents constantly asked her to return, but she knew that if she did that, she would not be able to get away from them again. In order to get her parents out of her life once and for all, she got married to a marine. She was fifteen years old then and got the marriage annulled just a day later. However, the Georgia law back then stated that once a person was married, the person’s parents would lose complete hold over him/her.

She worked at a hosiery mill for a while. She also started dating the brother of one of her female co-workers. He was a shoe salesman. They got married soon after. Getting married for the second time at the age of fifteen was still scary for Tempest. The marriage lasted for 6 months.

She did a number of odd jobs in the beginning and frequently lied about her age to get more jobs. At seventeen, she began working as a cocktail waitress. Soon, one of her customers told her that she deserved to be somewhere better. He suggested that she become a stripper. Tempest thought he was joking, but she continued to think about what he had said.

1956, was a major year for her. She was offered a huge deal by the ‘Bryan-Engels Burlesque’ chain. They offered Tempest $100,000 a year to work for them. Hence, she became the highest-paid stripper across the country.

However, this started a rivalry between the two theaters. ‘Star Theater’ hired John’s ex-wife, Arabelle Andre, as their main stripper. To further fuel the rivalry, they gave her the stage name “John’s Other Wife.” This burlesque war between the two giants of the industry was highly publicized in the media and ‘Life,’ a popular American magazine, published a number of stories on it.

Tempest started billing herself as the “$50,000 Hollywood Treasure Chest,” but the “Treasure Chest Girl” Evelyn West sued her and Tempest had to refrain from using the phrase to promote herself.

Tempest Storm officially retired from burlesque in 1995, at the age of sixty-seven. However, even after that, she performed on special occasions. In 1999, she performed at ‘O’Farrell Theatre’s 30th anniversary party.

Tempest Storm lived a colorful life. Rumors claimed that she had been romantically involved with Elvis Presley, Sammy Davis Jr., Mickey Rooney, and Louis Armstrong. Her alleged affair with infamous gangster Mickey Cohen also made it to many tabloids.

Tempest Storm married four times. Her first two marriages took place when she was a teenager. After becoming famous, she married a businessman named John Becker. However, she divorced him shortly after.

She then fell in love with singer Herb Jeffries and got married to him in 1959. She was warned by her companies that they would cut all ties with her if she married him, but she did not care and went ahead with the marriage. She had a daughter with Herb. However, they divorced in 1967.

Tempest Storm died on April 20, 2021, following a short illness at her residence in Las Vegas, Nevada. She was 93.

Tempest Storm died on April 20, 2021, following a short illness at her residence in Las Vegas, Nevada. She was 93.