Walter Cole, Who Dazzled as Darcelle, the World’s Oldest Drag Performer, Dies at 92
Walter Cole, otherwise known as Darcelle XV, a rhinestone-bedecked drag performer with an exuberant blonde beehive whose popular Portland, Ore., nightclub hosted what is believed to be the longest-running drag show west of the Mississippi, died on March 23 at a hospital in his hometown.
He was 92. His death was announced by Kevin Cook, who performs as Poison Waters and was Mr. Cole’s co-host at the nightclub, the Darcelle VX Showplace.
No cause was given. Seven years earlier, when he was 85, Mr. Cole earned an entry in Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest drag performer.
Mr. Cole had been running a jazz club and working as a manager at a grocery store when, in 1967, he bought the derelict Demas Tavern in Portland’s Old Town neighborhood, which was then considered the area’s Skid Row.
