In the 1960s, America was in the grip of a “national topless revolution” – and it was all thanks to one woman.
Carol Doda, who grew up in San Francisco, sparked change in the US after baring her chest for the first time during a performance at the now infamous Condor Club.
During her time in the spotlight, the star underwent 44 surgical operations to inject silicone into her breasts to take them from a size 34B to a 44DD.
Her impressive bust, dubbed “San Francisco’s new Twin Peaks,” was later insured for $1.5 million.
She was widely praised for leading the “liberation movement” that shaped the next twenty years of entertainment.
Carol, who passed away in 2015, continued dancing until she was 49.
Here, FEMAIL explores how she rose to fame while a new documentary will delve into her enchanting story.
Carol Doda, who grew up in San Francisco, sparked change in the US after baring her chest for the first time during a performance at the now infamous Condor Club
Carol, whose parents divorced when she was just three years old, dropped out of school in eighth grade and started going her own way at a very young age.
She found work as a secretary and became a cocktail waitress at the age of 14, earning her notoriety.
The platinum blonde found work as a lounge entertainer at the Condor Club – a lively bar in San Francisco – but wanted to go one step further.
Carol went topless for the first time during an impromptu performance at the bar in June 1964 — in a move that changed every entertainment venue on San Francisco’s busy Broadway.
She wore a bare-breasted monokini by avant-garde designer Rudi Gernreich – iIn what was later described as a precedent-setting act that made her a major American cultural sex icon of the 1960s.
The swimsuit design, which “sent shockwaves around the world,” has since been “faithfully reissued” and is still available today for $145.
News of Carol’s groundbreaking performance quickly spread.
Crowds flocked to the venue and the artist told The San Francisco Chronicle in 2009: “The moment I knew I existed in life was the night I started the Condor thing. All that mattered to me was entertaining people.”
Her impressive bust, dubbed “San Francisco’s new Twin Peaks,” was later insured for $1.5 million
Carol dramatically descended to the stage atop a white piano on a lift platform lowered from the ceiling by cables
San Francisco newspaper columnist Herb Caen previously characterized Carol as “the Susan B. Anthony of this particular liberation movement,” referring to the American social reformer who played a crucial role in the women’s suffrage movement.
Interest in the star only continued to grow and it was said that her act became a tourist attraction after the Golden Gate Bridge.
Carol soon began adding further elements to her performance.
She previously admitted she wasn’t the best dancer, but enticed viewers with her stagecraft, telling the outlet at the time, “A lot of great dancers don’t get the reaction from the audience that I do.”
Carol would descending dramatically to the stage atop a white one piano on a lift platform lowered from the ceiling via cables.
Tragically, the mechanism with which she became synonymous would later prove fatal to another employee of the club in 1983.
Bouncer Jimmy Ferrozzo and his exotic dancer Theresa Hill were having sex on the infamous piano when they accidentally turned on the on switch, according to reports.
The instrument quickly rose to the ceiling in just 90 seconds, crushing 40-year-old Ferrozzo, who weighed 240 pounds, to death.
Hill, 23, only survived because she was thinner than her companion.
The artist told The San Francisco Chronicle in 2009, “The moment I knew I existed in life was the night I started doing the Condor thing. The only thing that mattered to me was entertaining people’
Due to the scandalous nature of her act, the Condor was raided by the authorities, but Carol was ultimately found not guilty of indecency under community standards.
Carol continued to bare her breasts every night and today ended up earning the equivalent of about $4,000 a week
However, Carol continued with her act anyway.
Over the years, after being in the spotlight, the artist underwent a series of breast enlargements.
She underwent 44 surgical treatments in which emulsified silicone was injected into her bust at a cost of approximately $12,000 (in today’s currency) – eexpanding her bra size from 34B to 44DD.
The procedure has since been banned, but Carol claimed to have had no health complications as a result.
Ultimately, it was said that her ample chest was insured for $1.5 million – and her breasts were described as ‘the new Twin Peaks of San Francisco’.
In 1968, Carol took it a step further and even went bottomless – performing completely nude – until California ruled that women could not perform completely nude in clubs that served alcohol.
Due to the scandalous nature of her act, tThe Condor was raided by the authorities but Carol was ultimately found not guilty of indecency under community standards.
And so she continued to bare her breasts every night, eventually earning the equivalent of about $4,000 a week today.
Nightclubs across the country began enticing patrons with bare-breasted dancers in an era that spanned more than two decades.
She underwent 44 surgical treatments in which emulsified silicone was injected into her bust at a cost of approximately $12,000 in today’s money, expanding her bra size from 34B to 44DD
Carol, who later appeared on screen with a slew of acting credits to her name, left the club in 1985.
Before her death in 2015, Carol told the website babyboomerdaily.com: ‘I was the first to go topless in 1964 and started a sexual revolution that spun as fast as spinning tassels.’
Carol, who later appeared on screen with a slew of acting credits to her name, lleft the club in 1985.
She later owned a lingerie store in the Bay Area called Carol Doda’s Champagne and Lace Lingerie Boutique.
But that wasn’t the only path she took.
She was the frontwoman of her own rock band The Lucky Stiffsmodeled and performed comedy.
The entrepreneur was still dancing, this time fully clothed, at clubs in North Beach in 2009, telling the press: “The only way I can stop performing is if I can’t walk anymore, honey.”
The star performed until the age of 49. She never married and never had children.
Carol died in 2015 at the age of 78 from complications caused by kidney failure.
She is still considered by many to be “part of San Francisco’s legacy” and was even immortalized in a mural last year.
Carol Doda Topless At The Condor will be released in theaters on March 22