Corey was born in Buffalo, New York to Franklin Legg and Mary Fox Clark out of wedlock, though they later married on October 18, 1947.

In the 1950s, Corey worked as a window dresser at Hengerer's, then moved to New York City to study art at Parsons.

Once she shed her costume down to a sequined body stocking, two attendants raised the cape up on poles to produce a feathered tent that covered half the audience.

Corey is remembered by fans, friends and family for her simple philosophy that "[e]verybody wants to make an impression, some mark upon the world.

[14] In the TV series Pose, transgender house mother Elektra, who secretly works as a dominatrix in a BDSM club, discovers one of her clients has died from an overdose in her private dungeon.

Producer and director Janet Mock confirmed on Twitter that writer Our Lady J based the anthology melodrama on Corey.