Drag History Diva-Julian Eltinge

It's not often we get to see or hear about early drag queens, or fore divas I call them, so Drag History of some early queens continues with Julian Eltinge who is one of the first well known drag queens and female impersonators and was also a American stage and screen actor. After appearing in the Boston Cadets Revue at the age of ten in feminine garb, Eltinge garnered notice from other producers and made his first appearance on Broadway in 1904. As his star began to rise, he appeared in vaudeville and toured Europe and the United States even giving a command performance before King Edward VII. Eltinge appeared in a series of musical comedies written specifically for his talents starting in 1910 with The Fascinating Widow, returning to vaudeville in 1918. His popularity soon earned him the moniker "Mr. Lillian Russell" for the equally popular beauty and musical comedy star.


Hollywood beckoned Eltinge and in 1917 he appeared in his first feature film, The Countess Charming. This would lead to other films including 1918s The Isle of Love with Rudolph Valentino and Virginia Rappe. By the time Eltinge arrived in Hollywood, he was considered one of the highest paid actors on the American stage but with the arrival of the Great Depression and the death of vaudeville; Eltinge’s star began to fade. He continued his show in nightclubs but found little success, he died in 1941 following a show at a New York nightclub. He leaves a legacy as one of the greatest female impersonators of the 20th century. There is no existing record of a lover of either sex, though stories did abound. According to one such story ,Eltinge gave a photograph of himself as Salomé, signed "From your friend Jule", to a Boston sportswriter. When the sportswriter's wife discovered the photograph in her husband's coat pocket she was outraged. Confronting her husband, she had to be convinced that the "woman" in the photograph was actually a man, but however she was disturbed to find that her husband had been spending time with him. By the 1930s, the female impersonations that he had built his career on had begun to lose popularity. Eltinge resorted to performing in nightclubs. Crackdowns on cross-dressing in public, meant to curb homosexual activity, prevented Eltinge from performing in costume. At one appearance in a Los Angeles club, Eltinge stood next to displays of his gowns while taking on his characters. Now that's' taking your work seriously and wanting to perform for a crowd.



On May 7, 1941, Eltinge fell ill while performing at Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe. He was taken home and died in his apartment 10 days later. His death certificate lists the cause of death as a cerebral hemorrhage.