Danielle Colby was born in Davenport, Iowa which is on the Mississippi River and grew up as a Jehovah's Witness.[2] By 2004, she married and had two children.[2] Her television career eventually led to the breakup of her first marriage. In May 2012, she told WQAD-TV that "fame and notoriety are not easy for him to deal with at all, so the relationship ended up not working out."[3]
Performance career
Colby owned and played on a female roller derby team, the Big Mouth Mickies, for three years until injuries forced her to give it up.[4]
While living with her family in Chicago, she attended a burlesque performance starring comedian Margaret Cho and dancer Satan's Angel prompting her to become a burlesque dancer. After she moved back with her family to the Quad Cities area of Iowa,[2] she created the professional burlesque troupe Burlesque Le Moustache, with nine performers, including Colby herself with the stage name Dannie Diesel.[5] They toured eastern Iowa and western Illinois.[6] As of October 2014, Colby owned a burlesque academy called Dannie Diesel's Bump 'n' Grind Academy in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago which is by Evanston.[7]
American Pickers
Colby was a close friend of American Pickers' Mike Wolfe for a decade before the concept of the show had even been developed.[4] Once the show was sold to the History Channel, Wolfe asked Colby to work at the office of the antique shop Antique Archaeology.[8]
American Pickers premiered on the History Channel on January 18, 2010.[9] It was the top rated non-fiction series of 2010 among total viewers and adults 25–54.[10]
Fashion design
Colby owned and operated[citation needed] 4 Miles 2 Memphis, a retro clothing based company.[11][12] A brick and mortar location for the business opened on January 8, 2013 in the Wicker Park area of Chicago east of Oak Park; however, it closed within a year.[13]
References
^"Danielle Colby Cushman". American Pickers. A&E Television Networks. Archived from the original(website) on August 13, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
