She was best known for a twenty-minute dance which she performed with two boa constrictors called 'Elmer and Oscar'. Zorita was born Kathryn Boyd [ 3 ] in Youngstown, Ohio in [ 2 ] and was adopted by a strict Methodist couple in Chicago. Following a client's suggestion because of her full and mature figure, she worked as a stripper at stag parties to earn extra money. After being discovered through a beauty pageant, she began working as a burlesque artist in Zorita became well known for her unique and controversial numbers, such as the 'Half and Half'.
She dressed one half of her body as a groom and the other as a bride, [ 1 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] and, keeping one side to the audience, began to undress each other, leading to the 'wedding night romp'.
In another, an unseen 'spider' removed her clothes whilst she danced in front of a rhinestone-covered spiderweb. However, her most iconic acts involved boa constrictors - an example of one was called 'The Consummation of the Wedding of the Snake'', where she stripped while holding an 8-foot boa constrictor. Instead, she dances with a snake, gets bitten, and dies. In another act, she emerges from a giant spiderweb dripping in rhinestones. Dark 'spider's hands' slowly peel off her clothes from the rear.
She was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to 6 months imprisonment. In , Zorita was arrested by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for her use of snakes in the act [ 6 ] - she was also known to walk her snakes on leads in public. The name 'Zorita' was given to her by Mr Miller, who owned the San Francisco theatre where she was performing. She retired from stripping in and ran several burlesque clubs in New York and Miami before retiring completely in to breed Persian cats.
Zorita was bisexual. When she was touring venues, her 'girl friend' accompanied her. She was married, the first time at 15, [ 3 ] and divorced three times.
