Annie Stainer, Celebrated Mime and Collaborator with David Bowie, Passes Away at 79

In August 1972, a 25-year-old David Bowie took to the stage at the Rainbow Theatre embodying Ziggy Stardust, his groundbreaking androgynous alien persona, in what became one of the most lavish rock performances ever staged in Britain.

The production featured swirling dry ice across a multi-tiered set blanketed with sawdust. The Astronettes, a mime quartet led by British choreographer Lindsay Kemp, performed in fishnet costumes designed to resemble spider webs.

Annie Stainer, a member of this mime troupe, recalled the physical challenges of the show: "We had to perform atop precariously high ladders and scaffolding. At one point, someone genuinely thought I was a mechanical doll controlled remotely."

While the show’s avant-garde style polarized opinions—Elton John deemed it "too camp" and Bryan Ferry found it "rather embarrassing"—music critic Chris Welch offered praise, noting that despite its eccentricity, it injected glamour into the music scene.

This spectacular event not only propelled Bowie to international fame but also marked a thrilling milestone for Stainer, a mime, clown, and dancer known for her expressive lyricism, who described the opportunity as "the greatest thrill of all."

Annie Stainer passed away on May 31 in a hospital in Nedlands, Australia, succumbing to pneumonia, as confirmed by her daughter Sophie Bolton. Her death had initially gone unreported.

Stainer’s collaboration with Bowie extended beyond the Rainbow shows. She appeared in a gauzy costume in the music video for his 1972 track "John, I'm Only Dancing," which includes the lyric "Well, Annie’s pretty neat," likely referencing her.

In the late 1960s, the two also performed together in Lindsay Kemp’s theatrical production "Pierrot in Turquoise," with Bowie portraying Cloud and Stainer embodying Columbine, a mischievous character with striking blond hair and glassy eyes who betrays her lover, Pierrot.

As a key member of Kemp’s mime company, Stainer originated the role of Ernestine in the acclaimed 1974 pantomime "Flowers," inspired by Jean Genet’s novel "Our Lady of the Flowers." She also distinguished herself as a solo artist through a trilogy of works deeply rooted in myth and feminine symbolism.

Her "Annie Stainer Trilogy" began with "The Legend of Lilith" (1973), telling the story of Adam’s first wife, who sprouted wings and escaped the Garden of Eden. Stainer performed this piece in churches worldwide, including New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, where the cathedral’s director praised the seamless unity between the artist and the sacred space.

The second installment, "Moon" (1975), was an autobiographical exploration of love across the four seasons, earning an award for outstanding new show at Scotland’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

In 1984, Stainer unveiled the final part, "Changing Woman," which delved into ancient mysteries, compass points, and the four elements. She later combined all three works in a marathon performance at the Perth Festival in 1988.

Arts critic Cordelia Oliver once remarked that Stainer possessed a chameleon-like ability to transform herself into any creature or archetype—from bird to beast, insect to Eve, the mother of all.

Born Ann Elisabeth Stainer on September 29, 1945, in Shaftesbury, England, she was raised in the Wiltshire village of Mere, where her parents operated a bakery.

Though she took ballet as a child, she was criticized for the fluid, wing-like movements of her arms—movements she later embraced fully as part of her mime and dance style, explaining that those very traits were what she most wanted to express.

After studying French at the University of Warwick, where she met her future husband, circus clown Reg Bolton, she enrolled at the London School of Contemporary Dance in 1968. Two years later, she continued her training in Paris with mime master Étienne Decroux and Lindsay Kemp.

Reflecting on her intense studies, she described the experience as being plunged into a mysterious, unfathomable lake where she had to sink or swim, ultimately finding her artistic home.

Stainer and Bolton married in 1972 and shared a lifelong artistic partnership. Together, they founded the Long Green Children’s Theater Company in Edinburgh in 1974 and toured internationally with their family performing the "Suitcase Circus." In 1985, they settled in Perth, Australia, where they taught at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and operated a circus shop, which remains in operation today under their daughter’s care.

Stainer is survived by her children Joe and Sophie, brother John, and four grandchildren. Reg Bolton passed away in 2006.

In 2002, Stainer and her daughter founded Total Theater in Perth, a school and company that offered diverse artistic training from classical Chinese dance to unicycling and Shakespeare recitation. Over a decade, they produced more than 30 original, genre-blending works before closing in 2012.

Her daughter recalls Annie often quoting the saying attributed to Einstein: "If you want your children to be smart, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very smart, read them more fairy tales."