Detail of Louise posing in the altogether (except for heels, of course) in this provocative early 1925 photo by Ziegfeld Follies photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston. Even when wearing nothing, it’s Louise’s posing of her hands that always provides an intriguing focal point. 
Full image. “I am not playing the hypocrite...I am not the least bit ashamed of my chorus girl days...(But) since I have changed my profession I must change my standards of modesty.” — Louise in a 1926 interview about her “artistic” photos after she had signed with Paramount
Louise began writing her memoirs titled “Naked on My Goat” wryly remarking later that the title “establishes the producers view of me as a naked beauty who was not to get any fancy ideas in my head about being an ACTRESS.” She burned the manuscript. In “An American Venus” (1926):
Johnston shot dozens of Ziegfeld girls (like Barbara Stanwyck and Billie Dove) as well as budding film stars whose images the studios were looking to spice up, such as Clara Bow and Gloria Swanson. (Ziegfeld pursued Swanson but her chronic stage fright prevented an audition.)
“Cheney” Johnston, who shot nearly all the Follies girls from 1917 to 1932, died in a car crash in 1971. Hundreds of full nude photos of Ziegfeld girls were later discovered at his farm in Connecticut with speculation they were done for himself or for his boss Florenz Ziegfeld.
