Jackie Beat is the drag persona of actor, singer, songwriter and screenwriter Kent Fuher. Beat has appeared in a number of independent feature films both in and out of drag, including Wigstock: The Movie, Flawless, and Adam & Steve. Beat is also the lead singer of the Electroclash band Dirty Sanchez and released 7 albums as a solo artist, primarily R-rated parodies of mainstream songs.
Mary Rose Byrne (born 24 July 1979) is an Australian actress. She made her screen debut in the film Dallas Doll (1994), and continued to act in Australian film and television throughout the 1990s. She obtained her first leading film role in The Goddess of 1967 (2000), which brought her the Volpi Cup for Best Actress and made the transition to Hollywood in the small role of Dormé in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), followed by larger parts in Troy (2004), 28 Weeks Later (2007), and Knowing (2009).
Byrne appeared as Ellen Parsons in the legal thriller series Damages (2007–2012), which earned her two Golden Globe Awards nominations and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Get Him to the Greek (2010) and Bridesmaids (2011) established her as a comedic actress, in addition to the dramas and thrillers in which she continues to appear. She has since starred in a number of commercially successful comedies and dramas, including Insidious (2010) and its sequel Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013), X-Men: First Class (2011) and its sequel X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Annie (2014), as well as Peter Rabbit (2018) and its sequel Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (2021). Byrne also portrayed Gloria Steinem in the miniseries Mrs. America (2020) and led the comedy series Physical (2021–2023) and Platonic (2023).
Byrne has been in relationship with American actor Bobby Cannavale since 2012 and they have two sons. And she is the sister-in-law of New Zealand actress Rose McIver from her brother's marriage.
Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, fashion designer, actress, author, and recording artist. Cho is best known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially those pertaining to race and sexuality. She has also directed and appeared in music videos and has her own clothing line. She has frequently supported LGBT rights and has won awards for her humanitarian efforts on behalf of women, the transgender community, Asians, and the LGBT community.
As an actress she has played more serious parts, such as that of John Travolta's long-suffering FBI colleague in the action movie Face/Off. She co-starred as Teri Lee, a paralegal assistant, 8on Lifetime's drama series Drop Dead Diva.
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. After performing in the rock music scene of New York City's Lower East Side in 2003 and later enrolling at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, she soon signed with Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records. During her early time at Interscope, she worked as a songwriter for fellow label artists and captured the attention of recording artist Akon, who recognized her vocal abilities, and signed her to his own label, Kon Live Distribution.
Having sold 170 million records as of 2018, Gaga is one of the world's best-selling music artists and the only female artist to achieve four singles that sold at least 10 million copies globally. Her accolades include 13 Grammy Awards, 18 MTV Video Music Awards, 16 Guinness World Records, awards from the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and recognition as Billboard's Artist of the Year (2010) and Woman of the Year (2015). She has also been included in several Forbes' power rankings and ranked fourth on VH1's Greatest Women in Music (2012). Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2010 and 2019 and placed her on their All-Time 100 Fashion Icons list.
Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr. (born March 23, 1978), better known as Perez Hilton (a play on "Paris Hilton"), is an American blogger and television personality. His blog, Perezhilton.com (formerly PageSixSixSix.com), is known for posts covering gossip items about musicians, actors and celebrities. He is also known for posting tabloid photographs over which he has added his own captions or "doodles." His blog has garnered negative attention for its attitude, its active "outing" of alleged closeted celebrities and its role in the increasing coverage of celebrities in all forms of media.
Leslie Allen Jordan (ht. 4'11") (April 29, 1955 - October 24, 2022) was an American actor, comedian, playwright, and singer, best known for roles in Hearts Afire and Will & Grace.
His television roles included Lonnie Garr on Hearts Afire (1993–1995) and Beverley Leslie on Will & Grace (2001–2020), which earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2006. In addition to playing several characters in the American Horror Story franchise (2013–2019), Jordan had leading roles as Sid on The Cool Kids (2018–2019), and Phil on Call Me Kat (2021–2022).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jordan became an Instagram contributor, amassing 5.8 million followers in 2020, and published his autobiography How Y'all Doing? Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived in April 2021.
Bruce LaBruce is an internationally acclaimed Canadian filmmaker, photographer, writer, and artist based in Toronto. Along with a number of short films, he has written and directed nine feature films, including Gerontophilia, which won the Grand Prix at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal in 2013, and Pierrot Lunaire, which won the Teddy Award Special Jury Prize at the Berlinale in 2014. Most recently, LaBruce has been honoured with film retrospectives at both TIFF/Bell Lightbox 2014, and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, 2015. The MoMA retrospective featured all nine of LaBruce’s features as well as a program of short films. All of the films have now become part of MoMA’s permanent film collection. His films explore themes of sexual and interpersonal transgression against cultural norms, frequently blending the artistic and production techniques of independent film with gay pornography.
A veteran television actress and Broadway star of the 50s, Rue McClanahan was an actress noticed by television executive, Norman Lear. Lear cast her in a number of television shows, including "All in the Family" (1971) with 'Carroll OConnor' and "Maude" (1972) with Bea Arthur. McClanahan next co-starred with Vicki Lawrence, Ken Berry, Betty White and Carol Burnett in "Mama's Family" (1983) for three years, and after it was canceled by NBC, McClanahan was probably best known for her role as the saucy, sharp southern belle, Blanche, in "The Golden Girls" (1985). She once again worked with Bea Arthur and Betty White, and with relative newcomer Estelle Getty. All four of the women won Emmy Awards for their roles. After Bea Arthur left the show after eight seasons, McClanahan, White and Getty returned for a brief spin-off in "The Golden Palace" (1992). In the mid-nineties, McClanahan was diagnosed with cancer, but was able to fight it successfully. In addition to lending her talents to a number of made for TV films, McClanahan has also appeared on the big screen in recent years co-starring with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in the comedy Out to Sea (1997) and with Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers (1997). McClanahan also spends her time joining and helping organizations against cancer, AIDS, and cruelty against animals.
Rósa Arianna McGowan (born September 5, 1973) is a filmmaker, activist and musician. Born in Italy, she was raised in the Children of God cult, before her American parents fled back to the USA when Rose was 10 amid concerns about the community.
Settling in Oregon, McGowan was bullied at school and rebelled against her family. At 15, she legally emancipated herself from her parents and lived in a squat with drag artists, before moving to Los Angeles to try her hand at acting. Commercials, extra work and a small part in 1992’s 'Encino Man' followed, but McGowan walked away from the industry, deciding to work in cosmetology instead.
In 1994, while standing outside of an LA gym with a moody demeanor, she was discovered by a casting director for Gregg Araki’s 'The Doom Generation', believing she’d be perfect for the role of Amy Blue, an apathetic gen-X femme fatale. Her performance became synonymous with 90s punk cool, and she was nominated for Best Debut Performance at the 1996 Independent Spirit Awards.
Landing an agent, McGowan quickly found further roles, among them parts in the slasher hit 'Scream' and cult indies including 'Jawbreaker', 'Going All the Way', and 'Devil in the Flesh'. With her pale white skin and blood-red lipstick, along with a relationship with controversial rock star Marilyn Manson, McGowan was promoted as a bad girl sex symbol for the 1990s, but began to struggle finding mainstream success.
On advice from her management, McGowan joined the cast of the fantasy drama 'Charmed' in its fourth season, replacing the departed Shannen Doherty as one third of a trio of sister witches. After five seasons on the series, McGowan returned to film with roles in Brian De Palma’s 'The Black Dahlia' and the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double bill 'Grindhouse'.
While 'Grindhouse' garnered McGowan international attention, particularly for her role as a go-go dancer with a machine gun for a leg, it was an unhappy period in her personal life. A relationship with Rodriguez imploded, a car accident forced her to undergo extensive reconstructive surgery, and her father died.
In 2015, McGowan announced that she was walking away from acting to explore other ventures, due to her own traumatic experiences in the industry and her frustration with the quality of work promoted by Hollywood.
Her filmmaking debut, the short film 'Dawn', premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews, and in the same year she released her debut single — an atmospheric slice of electronica called RM486. She has since become a prominent activist across social media, launching her own feminist movement known as Rose Army, and continues to work as an artist, filmmaker and musician.
In 2016 Rose was involved in a sex scandal when multiple sex tapes and nude images were leaked online for the world to see as well as exposing her love for recreational drugs. Some seem to think she leaked the tapes and photos herself for more public exposure and others believe it to be the evils of Hollywood who might be outraged by the fact Rose has spoke out against them.