Danielle Colby

<< Back

Edit Mode: Danielle Colby

Email *

If we need to contact you, we will contact you on this email.

Full Name *

Your name please so that we can credit your work.

Main Text *

A Suprising Start

Danielle Colby was born December 3, 1975 in Davenport, Iowa. She is known as an American reality television personality for her work on the show American Pickers. 
She was raised by her parents as a Jehovah's Witness in what she described as a "very loving but very strict household." In 2004, at 29, she was married to Aleandre DeMeyer with two children. However ultimately, her television career led to divorce. "Fame and notoriety are not easy for him to deal with at all", she told WQAD-TV in May 2012. "So the relationship ended up not working out."

How She Got "Picked"

Colby and <a href="/biography/mike-wolfe">Mike Wolfe</a> were close friends for over ten years before the idea of American Pickers had been formed. <a href="/biography/mike-wolfe">Wolfe</a> officially asked her to work at the office of the famous Antique Archaeology shop after the History Channel bought the rights to the show. It premiered on January 18, 2010 and was ranked as the number one top-rated non-fiction series among total viewers and adults 25-54 in September of that year. "I didn't have any trepidation at all", she said in a Yuppie Punk interview. "I just figured if Mike's on board, I'm on board." "People think that Mike and I are dating", she adds later, "which isn't true at all."

The Other Side

In addition to her sucess with American Pickers, Colby owned and participated in a female roller derby team called The Big Mouth Mickies for three years before injuries forced her to retire. "After three years of roller derby I pretty much tore my body up", she explained. "[the Big Mouth Mickies] was just a bunch of Irish girls that got together because we wanted to do roller derby. But I think the shelf life of a roller derby girl is like three to five years."

After roller derby Colby created a professional burlesque troupe named Burlesque Le Moustache with eight other performers. She performed herself under the stage name Dannie Diesel. The troupe toured eastern Iowa and western Illinois. Colby later purchased a burlesque academy that she named Dannie Disels Bump 'n' Grind Academy that is located in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. Colby has said that a burlesque performance by <a href="/biography/margaret-cho">comedian</a> <a href="/biography/margaret-cho">Margaret Cho</a> and dancer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satan's_Angel">Satan's Angel</a> was what initially sparked her interest in the genre. "Growing up in a strict household, I think I went into that evening thinking that burlesque was taboo and wrong and bad", she said in an interview. "But what I realized after I left was that how absolutely liberating it was, to be in a room with women on stage who were ranging from a size zero to a size of, easily, 28-- all different types of women with all different strengths. I left thinking, 'Who cares if I have stretch marks? Who cares if I'm a size 14 or 12 or 10? It doesn't matter. What matters is that I like myself.' Thats the feeling I left with, and it was life-changing, and at that point I knew I really wanted to do it."

When asked what the History Channel and American Pickers had to say about her burlesque career, Colby responded "History Channel has been very supportive of what I do. I think they appreciate that I have a dynamic personality. I made it clear upon starting the show exactly what I do. I used to do modeling for artists as well, but I thinka s long as everything stays tasteful and it doesn't get weird in any way, I think they're okay with it."

[page-break]

"For me, it's all about comedy. It's about funny. And if you don't have comedy in there, you're just taking yourself way too seriously", she stated in an interview.

Other Endeavors

She also co-owns and operates 4 Miles 2 Memphis, a retro clothing boutique in the Chicago Wicker Park area, which was opened January 18, 2013. It's named after her two children, and features items made by herself and her friends. The other owner is Remey Rozin, former owner of the Broken Cherry boutique. The two met in roller derby league. "I've known Remey for a long time and always had a fondness for her", Colby admitted in an interview. "It's a great collaboration between two very strong women who just want to run a good business and have a postive impact."

In addition to her business ventures, Colby is the executive producer of a historically significant documentary about the legendary burlesque performer "Tempest Storm." She is also an <a href="/biography/danielle-colby">ambassador</a> for a jewelry program "Batey Girls" dedicated to empowering young girls and women that have been victimized by sex trafficing and domestic violence within the Dominican Republic. She also plans on touring and performing with her band "Gin Rummy."

Motivation

"My work on American Pickers reflects my real life passion for history. The beauty lies in the story. With out a back story there is little value to vintage.  From our past we learn where to direct our present and future humanitarian efforts. This is the mentality that keeps me searching for answers and back stories that will help nurture the human spirit and at times allow us to sit in quiet reflection with the more macabre side of history… The darker side we tend to forget or neatly tuck away out of sight. My goal is to bring to light all sides of history, lay them out in front of you, the viewer and allow you to become an involved steward of history yourself", Danielle writes on her official webpage.

Social Media

Colby's Twitter (@daniellecolby) has more than 79,000 followers and her Instagram (@danielleamericanpicker) has over 162,000 followers. Her burlesque alter-ego Facebook (Dannie Diesel) has over 121,000 people following.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danielle_Colby 
https://web.archive.org/web/20120213213356/http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/womens-liberation-burlesque-le-moustache/ 
http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130110/wicker-park/american-pickers-star-open-shop-wicker-park/ 
https://web.archive.org/web/20100626112837/http://www.yuppiepunk.org/2010/04/danielle-colby-cushman-american-pickers.html 
https://www.daniellecolby.com/artist-page

Source *

Source you received the information from. eg. personal experiences, acquaintances, web-links, etc

Comment *

Briefly describe the changes you made.

Warning! All fields are required. Empty fields won't allow the form to be submitted and your changes will be lost.
Once the changes are submitted they cannot be edited again until your submission is reviewed.