Little Egypt

Belly dancer Little Egypt was born Lorraine Shalhoub on December 20, 1931 in Brooklyn, New York. Of Syrian descent, Little Egypt claimed in several newspaper interviews that she was the great granddaughter of a previous famous belly dancer who used the same pseudonym and caused a big stir at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois in 1893. Little Egypt grew up in Brooklyn in the Syrian section around Atlantic Avenue. She started dancing as a little girl initially for her family before going on to dance at church benefits and Arab gatherings. Word soon spread about Little Egypt in the Syrian community and by the time she was a teenager Little Egypt was dancing at events outside of Brooklyn. She subsequently went on to appear as Orpah in the hit Broadway play "Gideon," which ran at the Plymouth Theatre from November 9, 1961 to June 2, 1962. (Little Egypt also played Orpah in a 1971 TV movie adaptation of "Gideon"). Moreover, Little Egypt not only was featured on an episode of Batman (1966), but also made guest appearances on various talk shows and had a co-starring role as belly dancer Maile in the film Seven (1979). In addition, Little Egypt was a popular headliner at nightclubs all over the U.S.