The Peculiar Truth about the Queen of Dirty Comedy
Published in
3 min readJun 4, 2024
- Americans in the late 1950s and early 1960s could be square and prudish compared to today. Women were expected to be prim and demure, and public discussions of sex were scandalous.
- That’s why Rusty Warren became an underground comedy hit.
- Her material seems almost quaint now, but in the 1960s Rusty Warren’s act was so risqué that many record stores wouldn’t offer her comedy albums for sale.
- 1930: Her parents, the Goldmans, adopted her as a baby and named her Ilene. They raised her in Milton, Massachusetts.
- She acquired the nickname Rusty on account of her red hair, and she later chose the stage name Warren after the cross street nearest to her home.
- From age 6 she studied singing and piano. After high school, she attended and graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. She performed with other pianists in a Chopin concerto conducted by Arthur Fiedler, legendary for the Boston Pops.
- During summer breaks from college in the 50s, she played piano and sang pop songs at hotel bars and nightclubs, even though she was too young to drink alcohol. From those establishments she began developing her bawdy comedy routines.
- Vaudeville comedienne Sophie Tucker influenced Rusty and gave her pointers.
