Pat "Madam Butterfly" Davis (b. c.1956) was an American dancer who performed on the television music show ''

Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. After airing locally on WCIU-TV in Chicago, Illinois, for a year, it aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featu ...

'' during the 1970s.

Biography

Davis was born in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and was five years old when she moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where she grew up. She said she loved dancing from when she was a child, and put on multiple performances for money from a young age. She lied about her age to get on ''Soul Train'' because she was too young to be allowed to dance on the show. Davis was one of the original ''

'' dancers, and was considered a fan favorite. She became popular for her unique dancing during a dance segment of the show known as the ''Soul Train'' line. She has been called a "fashion and dance icon." She received a lot of fan mail. She was known for wearing 1940s fashions and always having a flower or butterfly clip in her hair. She said she was inspired to wear 40s fashion from

The Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American female vocal group from Oakland, California, who achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. They have had a repertoire with many genres, they have sold around 50 million records throughout their ...

, and to wear flowers and butterflies after seeing

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

wear flowers in her hair when playing

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

in the movie '' Lady Sings the Blues''. After the Jackson 5 first appeared on ''Soul Train'', Davis gave lessons on neck twists and locking steps to

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

at his home to help him improve his

Robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

. Davis frequently used props, including once sucking on a baby's bottle during the ''Soul Train'' line. Davis was sometimes known as "The Butterfly", "Madam Butterfly" or "China Doll." Davis was featured in several issues of ''Right On!'' magazine, and had a monthly column in ''Rock & Soul'' magazine. She danced on the music performance show ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...

'' and appeared on the television show ''

The Dating Game ''The Dating Game'' is an American television game show that first aired on December 20, 1965, and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s. ABC dropped the show on July 6, 1973, but it ...

''. At the first Soul Train Gang reunion, Davis was voted “Soul Train's Original All Time Diva”. Davis had a cameo appearance in the 1976 movie '' Detroit 9000'' where she did a dance to " Disco Lady" by Johnnie Taylor. She was in several groups including Something Special and the duo Essence. She moved to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in the early 80s to start a solo music/dance career, then toured through

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. She married doctor Karl Bachmayer on June 12, 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Pat Date of birth missing (living people) Entertainers from Fort Worth, Texas Dancers from Texas Musicians from Los Angeles Dancers from California Soul Train Living people American expatriates in Austria Year of birth missing (living people)