Legendery skripper Carol Doda dies at 78

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Carol Doda, who helped take stripping out of the sleaziest margins of American society and won worldwide fame as a topless dancer in the 1960s and ’70s, has died in San Francisco of complications related to kidney failure. Longtime friend Dick Winn said Ms. Doda, 78, died at a hospital Monday. Her friends and family wanted to keep the news quiet for a couple of days, so they could make funeral arrangements in peace.

“She was much more than just dancing,” Winn said. “She was one of the fastest comedians I ever knew for coming back with wisecracks. “She was a wonderfully caring person who listened to you and gave good advice.”

For many years, Ms. Doda was a major attraction for people who wanted a taste of the ribald side of town and who followed Ms. Doda’s neon figure — a huge rendering of her on a sign, with flashing lights representing her nipples — into the Condor nightclub on Broadway. After a fanfare to build anticipation, the spotlight would hit a white baby grand piano slowly descending from the ceiling. Atop that piano was the statuesque Ms. Doda, in her mono-kini, proudly displaying her enhancements. She would dance and swivel her way through a few numbers before the piano ascended back to the ceiling, with Ms. Doda never leaving her perch.

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