NAMES IN THE NEWS : After Blaze, It Was Home-Fires
Even when Louisiana’s colorful Gov. Earl Long was cavorting about with stripper Blaze Starr, he still came home at night to the governor’s mansion, his widow says. Blanche Long, 87, discussed Long’s romps, which are portrayed by Paul Newman and Lolita Davidovich in the movie “Blaze,” with the Shreveport Times, and said, “He was down there on Bourbon Street a lot, (but he) would be right at home that night. You know how men do that sort of thing, don’t you?”
Historians agree with Mrs. Long’s contention that Starr was not the love of Earl’s life, because he also was seeing other women at the time. “What with the drugs he was taking, the liquor and the cigarettes, he was almost impotent, and that’s why he was grabbing these young women,” said Morgan Peoples, a Louisiana Tech historian.
“Earl Long was going with Blaze Starr to charge his battery. Blaze Starr was going with Earl Long to enhance her career.”
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