Humans of New York raises $2.6m for former burlesque star known as Tanqueray

The popular Instagram account and blog Humans of New York has raised more than $2.6m for a former burlesque dancer named Tanqueray.

Tanqueray, whose real name is Stefanie Johnson, first appeared on the Instagram account, which has more than 10.9m followers, in November 2019.

At the time, the 76-year-old went viral for her enjoyable and memorable stories of her life as a dancer in New York City in the 1960s and 1970s.

Recently, Johnson appeared again, this time to share her life over a 32-part series spread out over a week.

According to Brandon Stanton, the photographer behind the famous account, he decided to share Johnson’s story in the hopes of raising money for her medical expenses.

“Tanqueray caused quite a stir a few months ago when she dropped some truth bombs on us, while wearing a hand-beaded faux mink coat that she made herself,” Stanton wrote on Instagram. “What you don’t know is what happened afterward. Tanqueray - whose real name is Stephanie – sat for a series of twenty interviews with me, during which time I transcribed her entire life story. And whoa boy, what a story.”

On the GoFundMe set up for Johnson called The Tanqueray Trust, Stanton further explains that his goal was to create a podcast with Johnson about her past, but after she suffered a bad fall, he decided to share her story on Instagram in the hopes of raising funds so that she could “live the rest of her life on her own terms”.

“If the series adds any value to your life over the next seven days, please consider making a contribution to our fundraiser through the link in bio,” he added.

In the 32-part series, Johnson shares everything from her childhood in Albany, New York, to becoming pregnant as a teenager.

In one of the posts, she recalls her mother calling the police on her and having her arrested for burglary.

Rather than moving home with her mother, Johnson says she agreed to give her unborn son up for adoption and went to prison at just 18 years old - before later moving to New York City.  

The 76-year-old also details her experiences working as a go-go dancer, and later as a headlining burlesque act.

“Now whenever I get into any kind of whatever - I want to be the best. And Burlesque was no different. So naturally I wanted to be a feature. Only problem was there weren’t no black features. But I was determined to cross the color line, because features were making $1000 a week - at least,” Johnson said.

According to Johnson, she eventually achieved her goal of becoming a feature, at which point she was getting “so many calls that I had to hire an answering service”.

“Before long I had every account in the city. I mean everybody: the investment banks, the sports clubs, the unions, the masons. FDNY was my account. Transit was my account,” she revealed.

But despite her success, Johnson also shared the loneliness that she often felt in her career and personal life.

“Everything was fine when the music was playing. When people were laughing, and clapping, and shouting for more. But I knew I was tanking. Even when I was on the stage, and having fun - I was tanking,” she said. “Some nights I’d go back to the dressing room, and look in the mirror, and I’d realise that I don’t even exist. Nobody’s clapping for Stephanie. They’re clapping for Tanqueray. And sometimes I’d get so depressed thinking like that, I’d just start crying.”

Eventually, Johnson says she stopped dancing burlesque and circled through a series of other career choices, such as a dominatrix and a makeup artist.

“Sometimes I’ll remember the things that happened to me and I’ll just start laughing. I hope when I get to heaven God shows me a movie of my life. But just the funny parts. Not the in-between parts, cause then we’d both start crying,” she told Stanton.

In one of the last posts, Johnson reflected on this “one last chance to be on stage,” telling Stanton: “Right as the curtain was coming down, I get this one last chance to be on stage.

“One last chance to be Tanqueray. And I haven’t forgotten how to do it. Maybe I can’t wear my heels anymore, but I can put on my make-up. And I might not be able to dance but I can talk like I need to talk. To make people smile. And laugh.”

Over the past week, Johnson’s story has been met with an outpouring of support from thousands of fans.

In addition to applauding her, commiserating with her and expressing their gratitude for her story-telling, many donated to the Tanqueray Trust.

As of Wednesday, the GoFundMe has raised $2,633,260 - far surpassing its goal of $1m.

According to Stanton, the money will be placed in a trust so that it can provide Johnson with “sustainable, long-term care”.

“The trust will cover her living expenses and health care needs moving forward. (Which will admittedly be quite extensive.) And at Stephanie’s request, any money remaining at the end of her life will be donated to The Association To Benefit Children - a highly respected New York charity dedicated to helping the city’s most vulnerable children,” he said.

You can donate to the Tanqueray Trust here.