#3: Mr. Burlesk

WELCOME TO THE BACK OFFICE OF THE MELODY BURLESK. Frank Sinatra’s boyhood pal and first bodyguard, Bob Anthony, also became a big band singer. Tougher than Frank, but devoid of hit records, he went on to found the Melody Burlesk in Times Square. Like the Heimlich maneuver, you might assume a lap dance occurred somewhere through the millennia, but apparently not. They began at the Melody, as well as the first stage appearances of porn stars. Bob Anthony fought vice raids and roughnecks, running Times Square’s foremost burlesk theater. [gallery size="large" columns="2" link="file" ids="1593,1595,1592,1599"]