Drag’s first superstar was wowing crowds way back in… 1910?!
The following is an excerpt from Beautiful: The Story of Julian Eltinge, America’s Greatest Female Impersonator by Andy Erdman and available now from Oxford University Press.Drag artists were huge in vaudeville, musical comedies, and the movies.
But none—none—were bigger than Julian Eltinge (1881-1941). Often called “the most beautiful woman on the stage,” he was a superstar female impersonator whose art, work, and life embodied the many conflicting and bewildering cultural attitudes toward masculinity, gender, sexuality, and authenticity.
Beautiful is the first-ever full-length biography of this artistic marvel who defined his era—and whose story can tell us much about ours.Erdman’s other books include Blue Vaudeville and The Queen of Vaudeville: The Story of Eva Tanguay. Subscribe to our newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.A beautiful woman steps out of the wings and onto the stage at Keith’s vaudeville theatre in Boston in 1910.
She stands on the edge of the playing area, the apron, in front of a curtain and gestures gracefully, fluidly, the picture of a refined lady—a middle-class white lady, to be sure—but the former is synonymous with the latter and vice versa in most patrons’ minds.