The current writer, who is privileged enough to have spent some fun times with Ms LeCoque in the past and once dared to broach the subject, can confirm that she is not unaware of the, shall we say colorful?, connotations to her name (and she has a wicked sense of humor), but it's an entirely coincidental pairing and certainly in no way reflective of any previous career choices. In fact, although Fluff has been involved in the topless-revue scene for many decades now, even back in her dancing days she always appeared covered, although she's no prude.
For those of you unfamiliar with the grand dame of the Las Vegas showgirl scene, Folliott "Fluff" LeCoque (née Charlton) was born in Butte, Montana in 1923 and began dancing as a child. With a given first name (she was named after her mother) as unusual as her nickname, but harder for many to pronounce, it's of no great surprise that as a child she received a simpler monicker that's stuck ever since, even though she's renowned for her no-nonsense attitude and is anything but fluffy.
LeCoque studied ballet, jazz, and tap dancing before attending the University of Washington, where she studied acting. She moved to Hollywood with dreams of the post-WW2 silver screen, but although Fluff had movie-star good looks, she was a little too short and too muscular to make it as an actress. Her next career choice took her dancing in Europe, before arriving in Las Vegas in 1947, where she earned $35/week in the opening act for Liberace at the Last Frontier.
Between her jobs in the showrooms of Las Vegas, LeCoque toured the country working for producers Donn Arden and Ron Fletcher and, when she finally retired as a dancer in 1970, she remained in the business, quickly rising to be company manager of Jubilee!, a position she's filled for the past three decades.
Along the way, she's worked her way through five husbands, was the first woman to wear a bikini in Las Vegas (for a magazine cover), and claims that the biggest thrill of her career was being shot in the head by Joe Pesci for the role she played as Anna Scott, the silent partner in the movie Casino.
At 87 years of age, she remains sassy, indefatigable, and more than a little bit scary. When asked to describe herself in 2009 for a profile posted on ClassicVegas.com, LeCoque revealed: "I'm a bad loser. I'm determined to have my own way. I've always known who I am and what I am. I'm independent and difficult to handle. I like beautiful things. I love gardens. I love flowers. I like the outdoors. I used to be a pretty good athlete. I like people, but I don't like to be around a bunch of people. I like small gatherings. I never thought I was beautiful, but I'm vain. How do you describe that?"
She remains in love with her job, but bemoans how the new corporate culture of political correctness has constrained her management style: "I can't, shouldn't, yell at them or demean them or anything like that. Whereas I used to say, 'You're fat. Get off my stage,' now I can only say, 'I think you need to lose a few pounds.'"
The current writer still smiles when she recalls an episode Fluff relates regarding one of the dancers in the show, who she was pretty sure was moonlighting at a strip club. This was not an environment Fluff had ever been in before, but she was determined to get to the bottom of the situation and so, accompanied by some colleagues for backup, she swept into the infamous Crazy Horse Too one night, spotted her dancer on a pole, got herself a ringside seat, chin-in-hands, and gazed up until the girl looked down, met her boss's eyes, and knew she'd been busted.
Still, although Fluff isn't fluffy, that's not to say she's without a softer side. Here's an extract from another interview we came across, where she was asked what, in all of her career, she was most proud of:
"It was something I did years ago, when I was going to the university and I had my dancing school. A woman brought in her daughter, Dorothy, who happened to be retarded, and wanted her to have private dancing lessons. Her daughter was 27 years old, but her mother said she only had the intellect of a 12-year-old. She had no muscle tone, stringy hair, and her face was all broken out. I said I would do it, yet by my own rules.
"I talked with Dorothy, not down at her. I said when you come back, I want your hair pulled back tightly and in a bun, your face washed, your nails cleaned, your tights straight, and your leotard on properly. I want you to stand up when you come into the room and curtsy to me.
"The next day, she came out of the dressing room changed, with her hair back and a smile on her face. I worked with her for six straight months. Her little legs now had muscle tone, her posture straightened up and she was able to make it to dance class on the bus all by herself. She started to have pride. I just knew she could do it. That is the best thing I have ever done. It makes me cry just to remember it."
