Sally Rand (1904-1979) was a burlesque dancer, most well-known for her performances of the "bubble dance" and the "fan dance." Rand was born in the Ozarks of Missouri, her father was a corporal in the Spanish-American War and her mother was a Pennsylvania Dutch Quaker. Renowned ballerina Anna Pavlova inspired Rand to start learning dance.

During the 1920s, she acted on stage and appeared in silent films; Cecil B. deMille gave her the name Sally Rand. She was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1927. Rand became a burlesque performer shortly after the advent of sound technology for motion picture film in 1929, which stalled her acting career due to a pronounced lisp. She became a dancer, known for the fan dance, which she popularized starting at the Paramount Club. Her most famous appearance was at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair entitled Century of Progress. She also conceived and developed the bubble dance, in part to cope with wind while performing outdoors. She performed the fan dance on film in Bolero, released in 1934. She died in 1979 in Glendora, California. She is portrayed in the 1983 film The Right Stuff, fan-dancing for the first American astronauts and other dignitaries.