Chris Owens (burlesque performer)
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Chris Owens is a United States performer, club owner and entrepreneur who bases her act out of the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. She has been a French Quarter fixture and celebrity from the start of the 1960s through the early 21st century. Though perhaps not a name of world-wide recognition, Owens is extremely well known in Louisiana and throughout the U. S. South. Tourists visiting the famous Bourbon Street cannot miss huge posters of her wearing revealing costumes as they walk by her nightclub.
Details about Owens' past and career are sketchy at best. She arrived in New Orleans at the age of 19.
She can be seen in the 1962 movie The Wacky World of Doctor Morgus (see Morgus the Magnificent).
She eventually met and married millionaire Sol Owens. They opened a nightclub on St. Louis Street in the French Quarter; it was originally intended to be a low-key sideline establishment, but business exploded.
Realizing that Owens' performance numbers were a huge draw, they sold their home in 1977 and purchased the building on the corner of St. Louis and Bourbon. Soon the "Chris Owens Review" became a noted act in town.
In 1979 Sol had a heart attack and died; Chris Owens took over management of the club and of the 30 apartments and 4 shops located within the building. As of 2007 the club and Owens' act continue to be a draw.
She hosts a yearly "Patriotic Easter Parade" that rolls down Bourbon Street.
Owens began production in 2004 of her first feature film, Let's Ballroom. Owens stars as a wealthy widow who falls in love with her dance instructor.
As of July 2006 she was engaged to be married to Chris Shores A.K.A. "Laughing Bear".
