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Photo of Burlesque Dancer: Kalatan

Stage Name

Real Name

Miss Kalantan Mary Ellen Tillotson
Sherrie Knight Mary Ellen Bromfield
the heavenly body  
Aleene Dupree  
Sweetheart of the Follies Bergere  

   Kalantan was the youngest of five children born to Frank V. and his wife Edna J. Tillotson. Mary would became your typical 1950's Hootchy-Cootchy dancer who could actually dance. She got into the business under Lillian Hunt's tutelage in a chorus line of the Follies Theatre in Los Angeles, California. While performing in Mexico She says "it was the Mexicans who named her Kalantan, meaning heater," (said to not be true.)

    She was billed as an "interpreter of Afro-Cuban dance" in one of her Burlesque 16mm stag films, but didn't really poses the Latin rhythms needed to pull it off, however her interpretations were danced well even if not very Latin in nature.

    Kalantan had a very nice and firm body that she used well on stage as well as modeling. Kalantan Danced in various nightclubs and mainly in New Orleans "Bourbon Square," seeking to stay away from the

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prostitution type burlesque clubs. She soon found her way to Los Angeles, namely Hollywood, California and in 1946 made her big screen debut in the 1946 Burlesque film "Hollywood Revels" and her last film in 1955 "Son Of Sinbad" along with Nejla Ates and Lili St. Cyr dancing in the desert doing a Pole Dance routine.

   Towards the end of her short career in Burlesque, she would eventually marry Bromfield and retire from the business to Palm Springs, Ca. until Bromfield's death in 2005.

Birth Place

Birth Date

Spouse

Measurements

Fresno, California b.3/13/1928 John Farron Bromfield (1963-2005) n/a
           
           
 

Dance Types

Dance Partners

Music Titles

Buddha Dance Routine n/a  
Erotic        
Fire Dance        
Pole Dance        
Stripper            
 

Night Clubs

Theaters

Stage

Atlanta Burbank Theater Follies Theatre (NY)
California (as Aleene Dupree) El Rey Theatre (Oakland)      
Florida (Clover Club - Miami)            
Las Vegas (Silver Slipper)            
Mexico City            
New Orleans (Bourbon SQ.)            
500 Club (Bourbon SQ.)            
 

Clips

Films

Other

- 1946 - Hollywood Revels (as Aleene) n/a
- 1949 - Midnight Frolics (as Aleene)  
- 1955 - Son of Sinbad (Pole Dancer)  
- 1950's - Kalantan: The Exotic Fire Dance  
Clip 1950's - Kalantan: Exotic Buddha Dance  
- 16mm film "Fire Dancer"  
     
NOTE:
 
December 25, 2009
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