This inaugural volume in the new Forgotten Stars of the Musical Theatre series sets Lydia Thompson, queen of burlesque, under the spotlight. The book and the series will attempt to restore to their place in theatre history performers and writers who were famous in their era, yet who have since faded inexplicably from popular memory. We intend to resurrect their lives and legacies for the theatre enthusiast. Outlandish tales of Lydia's touring burlesque company, the British Blondes, and such lurid episodes as her horsewhipping of a Chicago editor, a romance with a Russian Grand Duke, and her lesbian attacker have left her with a reputation as a bawdy burlesquer, but Kurt Ganzl, who is also the series editor and one of the world's premier experts on musical theatre, argues that she was nothing of the kind. Sweet, gentle and loving, she was an electrifying actress, a peerless dancer, an accomplished comedienne and an enchanting singer, with a star quality that to this day has been rivaled only by a few performers. Through this biography, the reader will learn the whole and hitherto untold story of this multi-dimensional musical-theatre star.