Honeysuckle Divine
- Actress
One of a kind adult entertainer Honeysuckle Divine achieved
considerable notoriety in the 1970's for her incredibly raunchy, yet
funny and imaginative stage act that included such unforgettably lewd
things as blowing out candles with her vagina, shooting Ping-Pong balls
out of her vagina, and even inserting a mop handle into her vagina to clean up
the stage at the end of her highly distinctive and outrageous act.
Divine was born as Betty Jane Allsup in 1938 in Rock Island, Illinois. The tenth in a family of fourteen children, Honeysuckle grew up in a Christian household and was a straight A student in grade school. In 1959 Divine moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she became a trainee nun at the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart convent. Three months later Divine left the convent and moved back to Rock Island, where she worked briefly as a waitress and as a nurse's aide at a hospital. Honeysuckle then moved to Des Moines, Iowa and got a job as a waitress at the Bishops Cafeteria.
Divine learned how to dance and moved back to Rock Island in 1962. She got her first job in burlesque as a dancing barmaid at the Yankee Stripper Supper Club. After moving to Washington, DC in 1963, Divine found regular work in Washington burlesque clubs throughout the mid-1960's. Honeysuckle began performing regularly at various clubs in New York in the late 1960's.
However, it wasn't until the early 1970's when Honeysuckle created an extremely brazen new persona and equally racy stage act involving an assortment of wild tricks using her vagina that she achieved her greatest success and popularity. Divine soon became a major headline act in clubs all across the country. Moreover, Honeysuckle wrote a column called "Diary of a Dirty Broad" for Screw magazine. In the mid-1970's Divine took a hiatus from her bawdy act after she was arrested several times for obscenity in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Boston, Massachusetts, and both Syracuse and Albany, New York. During this time she continued to work as a stripper doing a more conventional routine under a different name. However, Divine made a triumphant return to her original act in February, 1976 in Cleveland, Ohio. Honeysuckle went on to perform to packed houses all over America. Alas, Divine was arrested once again on April 5, 1976 in Philadelphia as a "threat to local standards."
In late 1976 Honeysuckle began writing a regular column called "The Beehive" for Cheri magazine. On March 8, 1977 Divine was arrested for performing at the Aquarius Adult Center in Gloucester, New Jersey. This was followed by yet another arrest in New York in April, 1977. In January, 1979 Honeysuckle performed one of her best received shows at the O'Farrell Theater in San Francisco, California. In June, 1983 Divine performed as part of a show called "Portable Vaudeville" at a theater in Amsterdam. Honeysuckle continued to tour the country and perform in clubs throughout the mid-1980's. Long since retired from the burlesque and striptease circuits, Divine now lives in a small town in her native Illinois.
Divine was born as Betty Jane Allsup in 1938 in Rock Island, Illinois. The tenth in a family of fourteen children, Honeysuckle grew up in a Christian household and was a straight A student in grade school. In 1959 Divine moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she became a trainee nun at the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart convent. Three months later Divine left the convent and moved back to Rock Island, where she worked briefly as a waitress and as a nurse's aide at a hospital. Honeysuckle then moved to Des Moines, Iowa and got a job as a waitress at the Bishops Cafeteria.
Divine learned how to dance and moved back to Rock Island in 1962. She got her first job in burlesque as a dancing barmaid at the Yankee Stripper Supper Club. After moving to Washington, DC in 1963, Divine found regular work in Washington burlesque clubs throughout the mid-1960's. Honeysuckle began performing regularly at various clubs in New York in the late 1960's.
However, it wasn't until the early 1970's when Honeysuckle created an extremely brazen new persona and equally racy stage act involving an assortment of wild tricks using her vagina that she achieved her greatest success and popularity. Divine soon became a major headline act in clubs all across the country. Moreover, Honeysuckle wrote a column called "Diary of a Dirty Broad" for Screw magazine. In the mid-1970's Divine took a hiatus from her bawdy act after she was arrested several times for obscenity in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Boston, Massachusetts, and both Syracuse and Albany, New York. During this time she continued to work as a stripper doing a more conventional routine under a different name. However, Divine made a triumphant return to her original act in February, 1976 in Cleveland, Ohio. Honeysuckle went on to perform to packed houses all over America. Alas, Divine was arrested once again on April 5, 1976 in Philadelphia as a "threat to local standards."
In late 1976 Honeysuckle began writing a regular column called "The Beehive" for Cheri magazine. On March 8, 1977 Divine was arrested for performing at the Aquarius Adult Center in Gloucester, New Jersey. This was followed by yet another arrest in New York in April, 1977. In January, 1979 Honeysuckle performed one of her best received shows at the O'Farrell Theater in San Francisco, California. In June, 1983 Divine performed as part of a show called "Portable Vaudeville" at a theater in Amsterdam. Honeysuckle continued to tour the country and perform in clubs throughout the mid-1980's. Long since retired from the burlesque and striptease circuits, Divine now lives in a small town in her native Illinois.
