Leslie Zemeckis (born 5 February, 1969) is an author, documentary filmmaker and actress. She has directed four documentary films including Behind the Burly Q, Bound by Flesh, Mabel Mabel Tiger Trainer, and Grandes Horizontales.[1] She has also written three non-fiction books. Her work focuses on women involved in burlesque, sex work and the circus.[1] She is married to filmmaker Robert Zemickis.[2]
She also created and starred in her own burlesque show called "Staar: She'd Rather Be A Mistress" ,[3] which she adapted into a short mockumentary "Staar: She’s Back and Mistresser Than Ever!” with Carrie Fisher and Fabio.[2]
She has a monthly book column in the Montecito Journal.[4]
Career
Behind the Burly Q was first begun as a documentary that Zemeckis later adapted into a book.[2]
For Burly Q, Zemeckis went across the country to interview men and women from burlesque shows of the past for her book and documentary.[2][1] This included gathering over 50 people to interview at the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas before it was demolished.[2][1]
Zemeckis has written several articles about burlesque and has participated in brlesque shows, including a clothed reading of her book Goddess of Love Incarnate: The Life of Stripteuse Lili St. Cyr accompanied by naked women.[5][2][6] She has also performed as her burlesque alter-ego Staar with the Santa Barbara Symphony.[7]
Zemeckis most recent documentary, Grandes Horizontales, concerns the lives of French courtesans navigating upper-class society in the 19th century.[8]
