Description:
Jean was born in Webster City, Iowa to Albert and Elizabeth Porter on January 30, 1930. However, her parents' residence was actually in nearby Stratford, Iowa which at that time had a population of 699 - that number would remain nearly unchanged for the next 90 years (in 2020, the population reached 707!). Jean's actual birth name was Margaret Ann Porter. Her father Albert worked as a farm laborer and the family was quite poor. By 1935, Albert had moved his family to a rural area of Dunklin County, Missouri and later to Union Township in Dunklin County. Margaret hated the poor farm lifestyle she had grown up in as well as her gi
Jean was born in Webster City, Iowa to Albert and Elizabeth Porter on January 30, 1930. However, her parents' residence was actually in nearby Stratford, Iowa which at that time had a population of 699 - that number would remain nearly unchanged for the next 90 years (in 2020, the population reached 707!). Jean's actual birth name was Margaret Ann Porter. Her father Albert worked as a farm laborer and the family was quite poor. By 1935, Albert had moved his family to a rural area of Dunklin County, Missouri and later to Union Township in Dunklin County. Margaret hated the poor farm lifestyle she had grown up in as well as her given name so when she reached the age of 20 she took off for Hollywood and created a new identity for herself: she would now become known as Jean Smyle (pronounced "Smiley").
In Los Angeles, while living in a small rental apartment with another girl, Jean took elocution lessons to help her get rid of her rural Missouri accent. She then quickly went about trying to break into some form of show business. Jean eventually settled on burlesque dancing and in late 1952 became a working stripper. But she felt that her act was unprofessional. "I had enthusiasm" she said at the time. "I got my clothes off all right, but it always looked as if I'd never done it before." So, Jean sought out ex-stripper Miss Lillian Hunt who had her own stripper school at the New Follies Theater. In addition to teaching Jean about costume sewing, a few ballet principles, stage presence and burlesque stripping, Miss Hunt also gave Jean a new stripper name - one that she felt would increase her glamour: "Venus, the Body".
Jean soon became well-known on the burlesque circuit in Los Angeles. Of course, a burlesque performer always needs musical accompaniment and in early 1953, the multitalented musician Hal Hidey became her piano player. The two hit it off right away and seven months later (Aug. 20, 1953) they were married in a small ceremony at City Hall in LA.
After the marriage, Margaret Porter aka Jean Smyle, became known as Jean Hidey. The couple made their home at 2184 Laurel Canyon Blvd., which is where they would remain for several years. During the marriage, the couple would have two children together - a son who was born in October of 1954, and a daughter who arrived in January of 1956.
As time progressed, Jean was inspired by what Lillian Hunt had done with her stripper school, so she started her own striptease school in Los Angeles. In the October 7, 1957 edition of a Wilmington, California newspaper (the Daily Press Journal), there was an article about Jean's school. Jean was quoted as saying "Burlesque can't even be classified as entertainment any more. Ninety percent of the girls stripping today are short, saggy and fat. Because of them, burlesque is a dying art, and we hope to bring it back." She also noted: "We're attempting to bring graceful dancing back to strip-teasing. The day of the girl who walks on a stage just to peel off her clothes is over. We'll still strip, of course - but with class."
The next year, in November of 1958, Jean took part in a practical joke (set up by Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis) on the set of the movie "Some Like It Hot", directed by Billy Wilder. In one scene, a gangster was supposed to pop out of a large cake with machine gun in hand and mow down George Raft and a couple of his sidekicks, but instead, Jean Hidey popped out, either nude or very scantily dressed. Director Billy Wilder staggered with surprise as the cast and crew broke into singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow". When this stunt was reported in the Pomona Press Bulletin, they also noted that Jean was a Moulin Rouge showgirl and a former stripper, so it's my guess that Jean quit her burlesque gig sometime in 1957.
However, before she quit for good, she was filmed doing her burlesque act and this footage was to be used for a scene in a "cinema verite" film called "The Savage Eye", which was released in 1959. Since the movie was shot over a four year period, it's not clear when the footage of Jean (Venus, the Body) was actually filmed. However, the location for the shoot seems to be the Near 'N Far nightclub in Los Angeles.
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