33 Facts About Carol Doda

Carol Ann Doda was an American topless dancer based in San Francisco, California, who was active from the 1960s through the 1980s.

Carol Doda was the first public topless dancer in the United States.

In 1964, Doda made international news, first by dancing topless at the city's Condor Club, then by reportedly enlarging her breasts from size 34B to 44DD through silicone injections.

Possibly, Carol Doda enlarged her breasts to measure 44 inches around the bust, and the 44DD assertion resulted from journalists misunderstanding how bra sizing works.

Carol Doda's breasts became known as Doda's "twin 44s" and "the new Twin Peaks of San Francisco".

Carol Ann Doda was born August 29,1937, in Vallejo, California, and grew up in San Francisco.

Carol Doda's parents divorced in 1942 when she was four, and Doda dropped out of school and became a cocktail waitress at age 14.

Carol Doda attended the San Francisco Art Institute and worked as a waitress and lounge entertainer at the Condor Club, located at the corner of Broadway and Columbus in the North Beach section of San Francisco.

Carol Doda's act began with a grand piano being lowered from the ceiling by hydraulic motors: Carol Doda would be on top of the piano dancing, as it descended from a hole in the ceiling.

Carol Doda go-go danced "The Swim" to a rock-and-roll combo headed by Bobby Freeman as her piano settled on the stage.

Carol Doda performed the Twist, The Frug, and the Watusi.

On June 19,1964, when Carol Doda was twenty-six years old, the Condor's publicist, "Big" Davy Rosenberg, gave Carol Doda a monokini topless swimsuit designed by Rudi Gernreich.

Carol Doda performed topless that night, the first noted entertainer of the era to do so.

Carol Doda was profiled in Tom Wolfe's 1969 book The Pump House Gang, and appeared that same year as Sally Silicone in Head, the 1968 film created by Jack Nicholson and Bob Rafelson, and featuring The Monkees.

Carol Doda became renowned for her bigger bust, and was one of the first well-known performers to have her breasts artificially enlarged.

Carol Doda performed twelve shows nightly so the management could keep crowds moving in and out.

Carol Doda danced bottomless until the California Alcoholic Beverages Commission passed a rule in the autumn of 1972 prohibiting nude dancing in places that served alcohol.

Peter Mattioli owned the Condor Club by 1967 and Carol Doda still appeared in shows there.

In 1969, Carol Doda was a witness during the trial of two all-nude dancers who were arrested for "indecent exposure and lewd and dissolute conduct".

Carol Doda was cross-examined by a deputy district attorney about what she hoped to convey to audiences in her act.

Carol Doda was dressed in a red miniskirt with dark blue piping and beige boots.

Several members of the 10-man, 2-woman jury kept in check their smiles as Carol Doda explained the 17-minute movie.

Carol Doda appeared as Sadie Thompson in "Rain", at the Encore Theater SF, beginning January 1968.

In 1982 Carol Doda was again dancing at the Condor three times a night.

Carol Doda was 45 years old, yet performed to rock 'n' roll, blues, and ragtime.

Each act was the same, with Carol Doda appearing in a gold gown, elbow-length gloves, and a diaphanous wraparound.

Carol Doda's clothing was removed one piece at a time until she wore only a g-string and the diaphanous wraparound.

On November 9,2015, Carol Doda died of kidney failure at St Luke's Hospital in San Francisco after a long stay.

Carol Doda said that she never married, but California newspapers recounted two early marriages.

Carol Doda gave birth to two children with Smith and had little contact with them: a daughter, Donna Smith Terzian, who predeceased her, and a son, Tom Smith.

Carol Doda married a second time on August 16,1959, in Reno, Nevada, to Donald L Sorensen.

In Yosemite National Park, Carol Doda Dome was named for her.

Carol Doda Topless at the Condor is a documentary about the birth of topless dancing in San Francisco in 1964.