Years active
1869 – 1920
Stage Name(s)
Vesta Tilley
Category
Male Impersonator
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Birth – Death
1864 – 1952
Bio
Vesta Tilley, indisputably the most famous male impersonator of all time, was one of the highest paid performers in the British Music Halls during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. She accomplished six […]
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Years active
1943-1989
Stage Name(s)
MISORA Hibari
Category
Male Impersonator
Country of Origin
Japan
Birth – Death
1937-1989
Bio
MISORA Hibari (美空ひばり) was a singer and actress who symbolized the post-war era of Japan. During her career spanning over 40 years, she recorded 1500 songs including 517 original songs. Her first performance acting as a boy […]
Years active
1996-Present
Stage Name(s)
Ken Vegas
Category
Drag King
Country of Origin
USA
Birth – Death
1973 –
Bio
Ken Vegas has been blending gender on stages from D.C.’s own Chaos nightclub to venues across North America, UK, and Sweden. As the organizing forces behind the D.C. Kings, he helped shape Washington into one of […]
Years active
1995 – Present
Stage Name(s)
Mo B. Dick
Category
Drag King
Country of Origin
USA
Birth – Death
1965 –
Bio
Legendary Drag King Mo B. Dick is cited as one of the founding fathers of the modern day Drag King movement. Starting in November 1995 in New York City, Mo B. Dick pioneered […]
Years active
1995 – Present
Stage Name(s)
Fudgie Frottage, Lu Read, Byrd Turgler, Rusty Scrotum
Category
Drag King
Country of Origin
USA
Birth – Death
1955 –
Bio
If Howard Stern is the self-proclaimed King of All Media, then there is no dispute, Fudgie Frottage, best known as the creator, producer, promoter, and performer for the […]
Years active
1995 – Present
Stage Name(s)
Flare, Flarington King, Drag King Flare
Category
Drag King
Country of Origin
Canada
Birth – Death
1974 –
Bio
Drag King Flare is an international drag king performer, producer, and documentarian. Flare’s first performance was November 25,1995 at a drag competition in the northern Canadian town of Thunder Bay. […]
Years active
1995 – 2012
Stage Name(s)
Dred
Category
Drag King
Country of Origin
USA
Birth – Death
1971 – 2019
Bio
Haitian-American Drag King Dred was one of the most prominent Drag Kings to emerge from the dynamic drag scene of New York City during the late 1990’s. Dred embodied the term “gender bender” long […]
Years active
1993 – Present
Stage Name(s)
The Fishvestites 1993 – 1995
Jenda 1996 – 1998
Sexy Galexy 1998 – current
Category
Drag King
Country of Origin
Australia
Birth – Death
1972 –
Bio
The Original Glamourboi Sexy Galexy is Glitz, Glam, Masc and Fem, a Get Down Boogie man, all wrapped up in a disco-loving, muscle-flexing, more-of-a-woman-when-he’s-a-man, […]
Years active
1990 – Present
Stage Name(s)
Bridge Markland
Category
Drag King
Country of Origin
Germany
Birth – Death
1961 –
Bio
The Berlin performer Bridge Markland is a virtuoso of role play and transformation. An artist who crosses boundaries between dance, theatre, drag + gender performance, cabaret + puppet theatre. Since 1985 she has been […]
Years active
1988 – Present
Stage Name(s)
Elvis Herselvis, Leigh Crow
Category
Male Impersonator, Drag King
Country of Origin
United States
Birth – Death
July 16, 1965 –
Bio
Leigh Crow is a gender-bending cabaret singer who gained notoriety as the world’s first female Elvis Impersonator, Elvis Herselvis. Her 30-year performance career includes Drag shows, independent […]
Years active
1988 – Present
Stage Name(s)
Shelly Mars
Category
Drag King
Country of Origin
USA
Birth – Death
1960 – Present
Bio
Shelly Mars is a multimedia performance artist, actor, printmaker and drag king whose work explores sexuality and power using an expanding catalog of created personae. An originator of 1980s – ‘90s queer […]
Years active
1984 – 1997
Stage Name(s)
Johnny Science, John Grant, Johnny Armstrong, Daniel Austen
Category
Drag King Make-Up Artist
Country of Origin
USA
Birth – Death
1955 – 2007
Bio
Johnny Science was a musician, make-up artist, and LGBT community leader thriving in New York City. He is credited as the person who fostered masculine […]
Years active
1979 – 2017
Stage Name(s)
Diane Torr, Danny King, Jack Sprat, Hamish McAllister, Charles Beresford, Mr. EE
Category
Drag King, Male Impersonator
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Birth – Death
1948 – 2017
Bio
Diane Torr was a Drag King pioneer, gender activist and performance art provocateur who blazed a trail in feminist theater […]
Years active
1978 – Present
Stage Name(s)
Crema, the Phoenix
Category
Male Impersonator, Drag King
Country of Origin
Canada
Birth – Death
1955 – Present
Bio
Crema’s first drag performance was as a male impersonator at a a gay show bar called B.J.’s Club in Vancouver Canada in 1978. From an interview between Clare Smyth (Drag […]
Years active
1935 – mid-1950s
Stage Name(s)
Blackie Dennis
Category
Male Impersonator
Country of Origin
USA
Birth – Death
1911 – 1988
Bio
Blackie Dennis was a male impersonator from the mid-1930’s to the mid-1950’s who performed in the notorious nightclubs of New York City’s beloved bohemian neighborhood, Greenwich Village. She wore tuxedos and sharp suits […]
Years active
1913 – 1930
Stage Name(s)
Pip Wainfor, Phil Wainfor
Category
Male Impersonator
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Birth – Death
1899 – 1964
Bio
From 1913 to 1930, Violet Wainfor used the stage name Pip or Phil Wainfor to perform as a male impersonator in small halls and pubs in the United Kingdom and […]
Years active
1923 – 1952
Stage Name(s)
Gladys Bentley, Bobbie Minton, Fatso Bentley
Category
Male Impersonator
Country of Origin
USA
Birth – Death
1907 – 1960
Bio
Gladys Bentley was an inspiration to many as a prolific African-American, out and proud lesbian, and bawdy gender bending entertainer during the 1920’s Harlem Renaissance. She was a robust 250 pound woman with a deep, growly voice […]
Years active
ca. 1914 – ca. 1940
Stage Name(s)
Bert Whitman
Category
Male Impersonator
Country of Origin
USA
Birth – Death
ca. 1888 – 1964
Bio
Said to be “the best male impersonator of the race” and the “ebony Fred Astaire”, Bert Whitman was considered one of the best male impersonators of her day. Born around […]
Years active
1909 – 1914
Stage Name(s)
Aida Overton Walker
Category
Male Impersonator
Country of Origin
USA
Birth – Death
1880 – 1914
Bio
Aida Overton Walker was an immensely successful African-American actress, singer, dancer, choreographer, and male impersonator on the vaudeville circuit performing for black and white audiences which was rare for the time. In 1909, out of necessity, Aida became a male […]