For several years, filmmaker Rick Delaup has been documenting the New Orleans burlesque scene of the late 1940s through the 1960s. "Evangeline the Oyster Girl & Other Tales of Burlesque," will be a television documentary and book about Bourbon Street burlesque dancers. During that time there were few economic opportunities for women, but for some the shady side of the street beckoned with money, glamour, and fame. The project is partially funded by the Louisiana Division of the Arts, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation. Eccentric New Orleans presents profiles of several women that appear in the documentary.

"I was so horny I couldn’t stop. But it really wasn’t that, you know, I just loved good-looking men . . . anything that had to do with sex. But, I just—I just went crazy, okay? I just went crazy. I loved it."

Linda Brigette, the Cupid Doll, was the last great Bourbon Street stripper from the glory days of burlesque in New Orleans that lasted from 1945 to 1962. She was born in 1939 in Winnsboro, Louisiana, the daughter of a poor sharecropper. Linda, who picked cotton for her family, dreamed of escaping her small-town existence and entering show business. She wanted to be a singer, but couldn’t carry a tune. In fact, Linda couldn’t quite put a finger on any talent that she may possess. She was a young, thin, dark-haired girl all of about 5 feet tall. She would soon discover that the canvas for her creative and artistic abilities would be her own body, as she would transform herself from a plain country girl to a glamorous blonde bombshell.

Linda’s mother died when Linda was only 11 years old. Two years later, at the age of 13, she married a 19-year old boy named George. She was madly in love with George, and it was finally her ticket out of Winnsboro. They were married in Natchez, Mississippi. About a year later, she had a child. George, who had become an abusive husband, did not want the responsibility, and abandoned Linda.

In 1957, she had a second son. At the time, she was working in a Baton Rouge strip club as a cocktail waitress. Texas legend, Candy Barr was on tour performing at the club. Linda remembers, "I was fascinated. I’m a country girl. I had never seen a body like that on anybody in my life." A waitress friend encouraged Linda to do her own striptease act. "I’m too little. I’m too skinny. I ain’t got nothin’ like she’s got," Linda told her. But, an agent in St. Louis signed her up, and Linda was booked into Kansas City. "I think I was 17 and I went to a theater there and I didn’t know what I was doing." The club owner gave her the name, "Linda." "Linda Brigette is my stage name. My real name—I don’t give that out. I’m Linda Brigette, and that’s all I know." It was the next club she was booked into that gave her the last name, "Brigette." Apparently, the club owner was under the impression that Linda was going to be a blonde. "My agent, you know how they talk, said ‘Okay, so we got this sexy blonde, she’s little and tiny like Brigette Bardot.’" Linda arrived at the club and saw her new moniker "Linda Brigette" on the marquee. The club owner was surprised to see her dark hair. "You’re not blonde!" he told her. "I beg your pardon, I know I’m not," Linda replied. The owner said, "We’ll take care of that," and Linda’s hair was dyed a platinum blonde. It was her second job as a stripper.

"So Larry and I was getting ready to get married, I was like 21 years old. I said ‘Larry, I want implants.’ That’s before I married him. He said, ‘No way, never.’ I said, ‘I’m not gonna go to bed with you, I ain’t gonna do anything, I’m not gonna marry you.’" Linda did get married to Lamarca, and got her implants, too. Linda’s implants were made of foam. They were not safe, and in time caused her quite a lot of pain.

Frank Carraci, owner of the 500 Club, had his eye on Linda. His headliner, Lilly Christine, had met an untimely death due to peritonitis. Known as "the Cat Girl," Lilly was Bourbon Street’s biggest draw. She was a sexy blonde bombshell who packed in the crowds on her national tours, and was featured on the cover of dozens of national magazines. Carraci, was looking for a replacement. Linda was only receiving $250 a week working for her husband. She knew she could make more money. Carraci jokingly asked Linda to come see him, and she did. "He says, ‘Ok, you wanna work for me? Take Lilly Christine’s place?’ I said ‘Absolutely.’"

Larry Lamarca told Linda that she wasn’t going to leave him. "I’m not leaving you, but I’m not working for you no more," she told him. She left the Gunga Den and became the featured attraction at the 500 Club. "Frank Carraci was my man, I loved that man. I made more money with that man – had a private dressing room, my telephone, TV, private maid… I loved Frank Carraci with all my heart! I don’t care who’s listening. He helped me through a lot of things."

In 1966, Linda was busted on obscenity charges. At the time, District Attorney Jim Garrison, whose life is portrayed in Oliver Stone’s JFK, was conducting raids on the strip clubs of Bourbon Street to rid the French Quarter of B-drinking and lewd behavior. Linda’s act at the time contained a red sofa placed on the center of the stage. She danced around, and then reclined on the sofa in various positions. The authorities were watching from the audience one night. As soon as she laid down on the sofa and raised her legs, they moved in. For once her legs left the floor, well, that’s not considered dancing, they rationed.

Here is an excerpt from "The Garrison Case: A Study in the Abuse of Power" by Milton Brener.

Linda was, and still is, impressed that the country girl-turned-burlesque queen received the governor’s pardon. "He gave me a pardon, twice, he did. And I’m from Winnsboro, Louisiana!" When asked why Governor McKeithen gave her special treatment, she only responds, "His uncle delivered me when I was a baby. And then at the Press Club that night he says, ‘Linda, I knew one thing. I knew I had a reason to give you a pardon. My uncle delivered you.’"

Things started to turn sour between Linda and Larry as Carraci spared no expense on promoting and publicizing his headliner Linda Brigette, the Cupid Doll. She was Bourbon Street’s new blonde bombshell, a compact version of Brigette Bardot with large breasts and tall platinum hair. "I made him a lot of money. And he helped me. Because when my husband and I broke up, my husband threatened to have me killed!"

After five years, Linda left Larry Lamarca. She fondly recalls her second husband, "He saved me, let me put it that way. He was a father figure. He was everything to me. But I made a big mistake when I left him; I left him because he started messing around with other dancers and I couldn’t take it, so I left… He was a good man." Linda had been cheating on Larry as well. "[I was] horny as the devil! I was so horny I couldn’t stop. But it really wasn’t that, you know, I was – I just loved good-looking men. Larry, he was an older man, and he was, like, a father figure and when I went to work at the 500 Club – Oh my God! I just wanted good looking men, anything that had to do with sex. But, I just – I just went crazy, okay? I just went crazy. I loved it." Linda fell for a man nine years her junior. His name was Joe Trosclair, her spotlight man. They were married in a nude ceremony (a publicity event) in Newport, Kentucky. Linda’s marriage to Joe lasted 18 years.

Linda was never successful in her relationships with men. Louis Truxillo, owner of Fountain of Beauty Salon, was somebody Linda could always discuss her problems with, or look to as a friend to cheer her up. "I was in love with him because he treated me like a woman should be treated. Not as a lover, okay? And I used to give him gifts and everything, you know? And when I left my husband, he thought I left with Louis. Yes, I was in love with him because he was somebody I could talk to. He was my friend. He did my hair. If you can’t talk to your hairdresser, who can you talk to? And he was a great hairdresser. And he still is."

Linda is also an animal lover. While on the road, she traveled with her dogs, a baboon, and a python used in a fire-eating striptease act. Once, in Odessa, Texas, the python bit her on the bust in the hotel bathroom. Back at home in New Orleans, Linda also performed at the Sho-Bar and the Chez Paree. They all wanted her exclusively. "I signed contracts and I screwed up, okay? That’s why I left town and didn’t come back for a long time." The circumstances surrounding the divorce of her second husband and the end of her career are unclear at this time. Certainly, Jim Garrison had a hand in the demise of burlesque in New Orleans, even though he had a fondness for Linda Brigette and a few other dancers as well. But, Linda was ready to end this interview.

At the height of her career, Linda Brigette had it all – diamonds, furs, a big house, a new Jaguar, and a stable of horses. When asked about the lavish lifestyle she once had, she says, "I don’t want to go too much into it. That’s it, okay?" She then added, "When you’re on top, everybody loves you to death, you know? And they’re jealous of you. And then when you get down they shove it your face. They just rub it in your face."

"I’m 60 years old now. I never thought I’d live that long, but I’m here." Linda had been drinking at the time of this interview. Her family has abandoned her, and she lives the life of a transient. She has very few friends. "I’d rather be alone. If I find a nice man one day, I might shack up with him, or whatever. I don’t know." She has no home, often staying in cheap motels frequented by prostitutes and drug users. Sometimes she sleeps on the street. Linda has been robbed and beaten. She has no possessions except for a few bags of clothes, shoes, and makeup. She receives no benefits or food stamps. Her health is not the best. She has often thought of suicide.

"I like daytime. All my life I’ve lived at night, you know? I’d like to get something [to do] in the daytime. I don’t know. I’d just like to do something - help people. Because I know I need help. You know? I’ve been through a lot. I’d just like to have something to help people. And they can understand what I been through, and I could go and help somebody else. But I like the daytime, because all my life I’ve lived at nighttime, and – you know what? It’s like living in darkness all the time. And when you live in the dark and you sleep [during the day], you can’t see nothin’, you know? Life is out there. It’s life! It’s bright! And I get so depressed, all you can see is darkness, you know. I want to get out there and live in the daytime.

Rick Delaup (2000)