August 30th

08-30-1907 – 01-18-1996 Leonor Fini – Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Raised in Trieste, Italy by her mother, at the age of seventeen she moved to Milan and then to Paris in the early 1930s. She was an Argentine surrealist painter, illustrator, and author, known for her depictions of powerful women. She was known to be openly bisexual and anti-marriage. In 1942, she painted the first erotic nude male ever painted by a woman. Not only was she a painter, she also designed for the fashion world, and created elaborate sets for the theatre and opera. Fini was also the creator of Elsa Schiaparelli’s “Shocking” perfume bottle. Until her death in 1996, she lived in her Parisian apartment with her two male lovers and many Persian cats. The Art Dealers Association of America called her “…the most undervalued artist of the 20th Century.”

08-30-1915 – 11-12-2001   Zorita (born Kathryn Boyd) – Born in Youngstown, Ohio. She was an American burlesque dancer best known for her dance with two boa constrictors named Elmer and Oscar. After being discovered through a beauty contest, she began working as a burlesque artist in 1935. In 1941, Zorita was arrested by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for her use of snakes in her act — she was also known to walk her snakes on a leash in public. After her last New York performance, her snakes were confiscated. She retired from stripping in 1954 and ran several burlesque clubs in New York and Miami before retiring in 1974 to breed Persian cats. Zorita was bisexual. Her “girlfriend” traveled with her whenever she was touring. She married and divorced three times. Zorita later said that she stripped for men, but preferred women.

08-30-1980   Justin Mortelliti –  Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is an American actor, singer/songwriter, and recording artist. Mortelliti originated the role of Dylan Klebold in the Off-Broadway, World Premier of the play “The Columbine Project” in 2009 for which he won an Artistic Director’s Achievement Award for Best Lead Actor in a Drama. He was also nominated for Best Lead Actor in a Musical for his performance in  “Pride and Prejudice” at the San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle Awards. At the Venetian in Las Vegas, Mortelliti performed with the band Foreigner, singing lead vocals with Kelly Hanson. He is married to fellow actor Mark Evans. The couple have a daughter, Larsen Jean.