RuPaul

RuPaul

Actor

San Diego, California, USA

RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960), known professionally by the mononym RuPaul, is an American actor, drag queen, television personality, and singer/songwriter. Since 2009, he has produced and hosted the reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award in 2016. RuPaul was born and raised in San Diego and later moved to Atlanta to study performing arts. He settled in New York City where he became a popular fixture on the nightclub scene. RuPaul achieved international fame as a drag queen with the release of his debut single, "Supermodel (You Better Work)", which was included on his debut studio album Supermodel of the World (1993). In 1996, he became a spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics, raising money for the Mac AIDS Fund and becoming the first drag queen to land a major cosmetics campaign. That year, he received his own talk show on VH1, The RuPaul Show, which ran for two seasons before he began co-hosting the morning radio show on WKTU with Michelle Visage. He has had continued success as a recording artist, releasing eleven studio albums to date, including Foxy Lady (1996), Champion (2009), Glamazon (2011), Born Naked (2014) and American (2017). As an actor, RuPaul has made appearances in films including Crooklyn (1994), The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), Hurricane Bianca (2016) and the Netflix original series Girlboss (2017). He has also published two books: Lettin' It All Hang Out (1995) and Workin' It! RuPaul's Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style (2010). Additionally, RuPaul's Drag Race has produced nine seasons to date and has inspired several spin-off series, including RuPaul's Drag U and RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars on LGBTQ network Logo TV. He is also featured as a host on series such as Skin Wars, Good Work and Gay for Play Game Show Starring RuPaul. RuPaul is noted among drag queens for his indifference toward the gender-specific pronouns used to address him—both "he" and "she" have been deemed acceptable, as stated in his autobiography: "You can call me he. You can call me she. You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee; I don't care! Just as long as you call me." RuPaul has also played men in a number of roles, and makes public appearances both in and out of drag. In 1999, RuPaul was awarded the Vito Russo Award at the GLAAD Media Awards for work in promoting equality in the LGBT community.
RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960), known professionally by the mononym RuPaul, is an American actor, drag queen, television personality, and singer/songwriter. Since 2009, he has produced and hosted the reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award in 2016. RuPaul was born and raised in San Diego and later moved to Atlanta to study performing arts. He settled in New York City where he became a popular fixture on the nightclub scene. RuPaul achieved international fame as a drag queen with the release of his debut single, "Supermodel (You Better Work)", which was included on his debut studio album Supermodel of the World (1993). In 1996, he became a spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics, raising money for the Mac AIDS Fund and becoming the first drag queen to land a major cosmetics campaign. That year, he received his own talk show on VH1, The RuPaul Show, which ran for two seasons before he began co-hosting the morning radio show on WKTU with Michelle Visage. He has had continued success as a recording artist, releasing eleven studio albums to date, including Foxy Lady (1996), Champion (2009), Glamazon (2011), Born Naked (2014) and American (2017). As an actor, RuPaul has made appearances in films including Crooklyn (1994), The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), Hurricane Bianca (2016) and the Netflix original series Girlboss (2017). He has also published two books: Lettin' It All Hang Out (1995) and Workin' It! RuPaul's Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style (2010). Additionally, RuPaul's Drag Race has produced nine seasons to date and has inspired several spin-off series, including RuPaul's Drag U and RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars on LGBTQ network Logo TV. He is also featured as a host on series such as Skin Wars, Good Work and Gay for Play Game Show Starring RuPaul. RuPaul is noted among drag queens for his indifference toward the gender-specific pronouns used to address him—both "he" and "she" have been deemed acceptable, as stated in his autobiography: "You can call me he. You can call me she. You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee; I don't care! Just as long as you call me." RuPaul has also played men in a number of roles, and makes public appearances both in and out of drag. In 1999, RuPaul was awarded the Vito Russo Award at the GLAAD Media Awards for work in promoting equality in the LGBT community.