IN THREE WORDS

In this feature, I'll share a weekly guest with you all, 

and you tell me in only three words what comes to mind. 

In Three Words...

Danny La Rue

DRAG HISTORY-DANNY LaRUE

Danny La Rue........ With his dazzling coiffures, extravagant costumes, immaculate make-up, fitted eyelashes, blonde peek-a-boo wig and high heels, La Rue — tall and handsome — brought an air of the most amiable and poised self-mockery to clubs, cabarets, variety halls and summer shows for nearly 40 years, and was at a time billed the most famous drag queen in the world at! The Unforgettable Danny La Rue' & that he was! Before Rupaul had raced or Lilly Savage had shop lifted, Danny La Rue was it.

 

  La Rue was an Irish-born British entertainer known for his singing and drag impersonations. He served in the Royal Navy as a young man following his father's footsteps, and even had a brief career delivering groceries, but he became known for his skill as a female impersonator (or "comic in a frock" as he preferred to be called) in the United Kingdom and was featured in theatre productions, and in film, television and records.

 

Among his celebrity impersonations were Elizabeth Taylor, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich and Margaret Thatcher. At one point he had his own nightclub in Hanover Square, and also performed on London's West End. In the 1960s he was among Britain's highest-paid entertainers. In 1982 he played Dolly Levi in the musical Hello, Dolly!. He also has the distinction of being the only man to take over a woman's role in the West End theatre when he replaced Avis Bunnage in Oh, What a Lovely War! and he was until his death still a regular performer in traditional Christmas pantomime shows in Britain. In 1968 his version of "On Mother Kelly's Doorstep" reached number 33 in the UK singles chart; La Rue later adopted the song as his theme tune.

He appeared in Every Day's a Holiday, The Frankie Howard Show, Our Miss Fred, Twiggs, Decidedly Dusty, Entertainment Express, Blackpool Bonanza and the BBC's Play of the Month in a production of Charley's Aunt (1969). He made a guest appearance in the Mr. Bean episode Mr. Bean in Room 426 in 1993. He most recently appeared in Hello Danny a biographical show performed at Benidorm Palace, which opened in Spain in  November  2007. The part of the young La Rue was played by Jerry Lane, who also co-created and directed. La Rue appeared at the start of the show and then in an interview on stage in part of the second half. He also performed a number of songs. This show proved to be La Rue's final major public appearance.

La Rue suffered a mild stroke in January 2006 whilst in Spain on holiday after his final Pantomime and all of his planned performances were cancelled. He had been suffering from prostate cancer for many years unbeknown to his fans. He had several subsequent strokes and developed cancer of the throat. He died in his home shortly before midnight on  May 31 2009 at the age of 81, his companion, Annie Galbraith, was with him at his home when he died. La Rue was laid to rest with his partner, Jack Hanson, who were a coupled for 40 years.

Back in the day when I did drag it was all about the entrance and huge looks to me.... so this clip gives me chills...... I adore this.

Now this is a entertaining queen.

I can only imagine the entertaining going on upstairs!

THEY HAVE STYLE, THEY HAVE GRACE

And probably even painted good face!!! One can't really have a proper drag history without noting some of the pioneering queens who lead the way. Continuing from the queens from Stonewall on, these are some of the talents that were going to burst open the closet doors and push drag and glamour for all to see.

Charles Pierce

One of the most famous drag queens of the 20th century has got to be the late Charles Pierce. His impersonations of Bette Davis, Mae West, Joan Collins and other famous stars brought drag to the forefront of theatre and radio. He performed sell out concerts in theatres across America, his whit and humor being the main draw to his work. He described himself as a male actress rather than a drag queen – the ‘original, over-the-hill, valley girl’ The 1960s and 70s saw the development of a number of drag stars. Jim Bailey performed on over seventy television shows, performed a series of concerts with Liza Minnelli, had several runs in Las Vegas and even performed to the Royal Family.

Divine who was featured in the original John Waters film Hairspray and grew to notoriety after eating a real dog turd in another of Water’s films, Pink Flamingos.

                                                                       Candy Darling

 Candy Darling was one of Andy Warhol’s Superstars, and a muse for The Velvet Underground. In the 1980s, Lypsinka rose to fame performing long, show length soundtracks featuring edited snippets from old Hollywood films. Her meticulously precise lip syncing amazed audiences across America, landing her slots on The Joan Rivers Show, amongst others. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the rise of the club kid. Particularly in New York we saw a 90s version of Studio 54 emerge with Michael Alig and James St James at the helm. The club kid era saw the rise of model and muse Amanda Lepore and the fabulous performance artist Leigh Bowery. The club kids were known for going out in elaborate and controversial costumes.

                                                                    Leigh Bowery

One of these clubkids, who rose to international fame, was RuPaul – arguably the world’s most famous drag queen. With a career that spans several decades, RuPaul is the undisputed queen of drag queens.

In the 1990s RuPaul was to drag what Naomi Campbell was to modelling – RuPaul was the world’s first drag superstar. His career has included a string of dance singles, a duet with Elton John, and a presenting slot at The Brits. He also modelled worldwide, including a campaign for MAC, and landed his own TV chat show in 1996. In 2009 RuPaul created RuPaul’s Drag Race, which was a fusion of America’s Next Top Model and Project Runway. The drag queen with the most Creativity, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent too the crown. The show was a hit success, with a sixth season  getting ready to start. Drag queens have often been featured in films, in a variety of different roles. The most noted of these are Priscilla: Queen of The Desert, Hairspray, The Birdcage, Rocky Horror, and Hedwig and The Angry Inch. These films often showed the beautiful, glamorous side of drag mirrored with the difficult lives of their male counterparts suffered. The internet allowed more drag queens to find fame.  Jeffree Star rose to fame on MySpace for his cult following from emo kids and his offensive rap lyrics. He recently signed a record deal with Akon’s record label.

Lily Savage, Danny LaRue and Dame Edna Everage make the trio of famous British drag household names adding to the cause. Combined they have over 100 years of drag experience.

                                                                        Lily Savage

 Lily Savage was one of Britain’s most successful queens, most noted for her show Blankety Blank. Previous to that Lily performed for eight years at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London.

                                                                      Danny LaRue

The late Danny LaRue,  was quite the talent, and rose to fame in the West End, performing in seven major shows, and a string of Royal Variety performances. Dame Edna, whilst not British, has received wide success and admiration with British audiences.These three queens are a small handful of drag queens who have hit the big time in Britain – there hasn’t been a drag star that’s matched their fame in recent times.

There are, however, a number of queens working in and around London who are making a name for themselves, and have been for a number of years. DJ Jodie Harsh’s fame, whose music I have featured several time here, has long outlasted that of her biological namesake. Tasty Tim is another favourite on the gay clubbing scene and Lady Lloyd has recently come off tour with Ke$ha, and is a model for Vivienne Westwood.

                                                                    Maria Millionaire

Leeds has a large number of exciting drag artists. To say it’s gay scene is relatively small, it’s number and popularity of drag queens in the city is immense. Anna Glypta was one of the first drag queens to perform and promote drag in the city, helping shape Pride events and much of the community. Another big name in Leeds is Miss Orry – famous for being one of the original Blackpool Funny Girls, and who has appeared on Deal or No Deal and Emmerdale. Other notable Leeds drag queens include Carla Jackson, Anja Bach, Roxxxy, Raven Mandela, Gisele Batrice, Bears Aloud, Cheryl Hole, Daisy DuPount, Pixie Monrue and Maria Millionaire. We will be looking at some of these girls up closer soon.