Like most burlesque dancers Noel Toy had several nicknames and alter egos, including the Chinese Sally Rand, but this promo image is signed: Ming Toi – The Silver Goddess. Toy/Toi was actually born Ngun Lee in San Francisco in 1918, and was a journalism student at UC Berkeley when she took a job dancing during the Golden Gate International Exposition, a Bay Area version of the World’s Fair held in 1939. That decision changed her life.Having tasted the bright lights of show business, Toy ditched university and took a job at the famed Frisco club Forbidden City, gaining national attention and developing a fan dance that brought about the Rand comparison. As her star rose she performed at many of the top clubs around the U.S., including the Stork Club in New York City, appeared in magazines, and made the inevitable contacts in the world of cinema.
In 1951 she made the leap to the bgi screen with an uncredited role in Anne of the Indies, and thereafter acted mostly on television shows, including Columbo, Police Woman, and four episodes of M*A*S*H*. We don’t have an exact date for this rare and awesome Silver Goddess shot (yes, we know she looks more like gold, but who are we argue with her self-chosen nickname?), however it’s probably from around 1940. A couple more images appear below.
