Tag: female impersonators

Vicki Marlane

Vicki Marlane pic

September 5, 1934 – July 3, 2011

Minnesota native Vicki Marlane was among a troupe of female impersonators who performed at the Diplomat Lounge in Detroit in the early 1960s.  Born Donald Sterger, Marlane underwent gender affirmation surgery in San Francisco, where she continued to perform into her 70s.  She was subject of the 2009 documentary Forever’s Gonna Start Tonight.  She died from AIDS-related complications at age 76.

Bay Area Reporter, July 14, 2011

Vicki Marlane photographs and artifacts at the GLBT Historical Society

Forever’s Gonna Start Tonight on Vimeo

Bradley Grant

Bradley Grant pic

June 4, 1963 – July 19, 1993

Bradley Grant was a longtime member of the Detroit chapter of Black and White Men Together.  He served on the board of the Michigan Organization or Human Rights and was active with the Detroit Area Gay/Lesbian Council.  He also performed as a female impersonator under the name Peaches la Fleur.  He died from AIDS-related complications at age 30.

BWMT Detroit newsletter, August 1993

Jack Genore

Jack Genore aka Fat Jack pic

June 19, 1928 – October 20, 1995

Negaunee native Jack Genore performed as Fat Jack at the Diplomat, the Gold Dollar, and other Detroit drag venues during the 1960s and 1970s.  He was particularly noted for his rendition of “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.”

Mining Journal, October 22, 1995

Edward Johnson

Edward Johnson pic

April 20, 1976 – April 8, 2013

Detroit native Edward Johnson studied dance at Oakland University, Marygrove College, and Wayne State University.  His LGBTQ activism included work with the Horizons Project and Men of Color.  Johnson also won a number of Detroit area female impersonation titles performing as Tokyo Reign.

Between The Lines, April 18, 2013

Robert Brunner

melba-moore-pic

July 14, 1955 – June 11, 1999

For more than 25 years, Robert Brunner performed female impersonation in Detroit under the name Melba Moore, winning the Miss Gay Continental U.S.A. title for 1981-82 and honored for Lifetime Achievement by the Performers Awards of Detroit in 1999.

Cruise, June 16, 1999

Between The Lines, June 24, 1999

Melba Moore Tribute at Our Community Roots

James Pascoe

pascoe-pic

September 16, 1936 – May 31, 2014

A native of Sault Ste. Marie, James Pascoe rose to fame performing as Jerri Daye as a female impersonator at the Diplomat and Gold Dollar in Detroit and nationally from the late 1950s into the 1990s.

Between The Lines, June 5, 2014