Rusty Warren


Rusty Warren is an American comedian and musician, specializing in sex-related themes and such songs as "Bounce Your Boobies".

Early life

Warren was born in New York City in 1930 and adopted six months later by Helen and Herbert Goldman, a couple from Milton, Massachusetts, who named her Ilene Goldman. She graduated from Milton High School around 1948, studied piano at the New England Conservatory of Music, graduating around 1954. She spent her first free summer entertaining in small lounges, and later taught there briefly after obtaining her degree. Her musical mentor at the time was Arthur Fiedler, the conductor of the Boston Pops.

Career

She recorded for Jubilee Records, then GNP Crescendo Records which reissued some of her earlier Jubilee albums. Known as the "Knockers Up Gal", she has frequently been called the "mother of the sexual revolution". Her career began in the early 1950s in Phoenix, Arizona. Later she moved her act to Las Vegas, Nevada. Her comedy routines exposed the subject of sex from a female perspective. Her most famous contribution to the sexual revolution was the song "Knockers Up" from the 1960 album of the same name.
SCTV comedian Catherine O'Hara performed a character called Dusty Towne who was based on Warren.

Personal life

Warren produced a DVD that chronicles her life in show business. The DVD,Rusty Warren: Knockers Up! The Lady Behind the Laughs, was released by GNP Crescendo in 2008. Her life partner was Elizabeth Rizzo from 1984 to 2019 and they resided in Hawaii after moving from Paradise Valley, Arizona. Rizzo wrote Rusty's biography "Rusty Warren-The Knockers Up Gal" available on Amazon. It contains excerpts from news articles, magazine articles in chronological order to tell the story of Rusty’s career and those who worked with her. Rusty and her entourage saved every news article, photograph, slides, reels of video footage from her Las Vegas shows, magazines, promotional material, letters, performance contracts, handwritten notes; literally everything pertaining to her career as a comedian spanning from 1955 through the late 1980’s. The Rusty Warren collection is in the archives of the Library of Congress and on display the National Comedy Museum.

Discography

Albums