Joseph S. Pete

Roy Boy's Badlands, a legendary tattoo parlor on Broadway in Gary, traded in its tigers and grizzly bears for bees and chickens.

Roy Boy Cooper, who's been called "the Tiger King of the Midwest" and "the legendary forefather of Northwest Indiana tattooing," died 15 years ago. His pioneering tattoo parlor is still going strong under the leadership of his wife, Debra "Dangerous Deb" Cooper.

Roy Boy's Badlands is installing a museum in which visitors walk through a tiger cage to see memorabilia about Roy Boy Cooper, who built a national reputation through tattoo magazines and inked stars like Gregg Allman, Cher, Lenny Kravitz and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler. The tattoo parlor is seeking a historical marker and a sign on the Borman Expressway to direct visitors to its location.

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