Outstanding Performer
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"I never feel that I dress as a woman. I dress as a drag queen because, you know, women don't dress the way I dress. It's too uncomfortable."
Nothing says "real" like a big ole, buxom drag queen. This is no pretender here - this is not some quest for attention and to become a faux betty crocker - this is a real performer with all the trappings of a woman and the honesty to present herself as what she is - a man in drag.
Herstory: A six-foot five-inch tall African-American drag queen who usually performs in a blonde wig, RuPaul has given drag a new visibility by infusing it with gentleness and warmth.
RuPaul is credited with the statement "We're born naked, and the rest is drag." As one of the most famous drag queens in mainstream media history, RuPaul has been responsible for giving drag a new visibility in American popular culture.
By making drag less threatening to mainstream audiences, he has not only had a successful recording career as a disco diva, but has also had a wide variety of film roles, both in and out of drag, and hosted a popular VH1 talk show.
Perhaps his most appropriate gender-bending career has been as the "Face of M.A.C. Cosmetics," spokesmodel for the Canadian cosmetics company and chairperson of the M.A.C. AIDS charity fund.
The concept of drag is all about manipulating surface images, and RuPaul's life has given him an intimate understanding of the ways in which the surface can be deceptive.
Born into a working class family in San Diego on November 17, 1960, RuPaul Andre Charles had an early fascination with things feminine. By the age of four, he was already an effeminate boy, imitating Diana Ross and Jane Fonda and beginning to be labeled a sissy.
His parents divorced when he was seven, and RuPaul was raised from then on in a household of strong women, consisting of his adored twin sisters, seven years older than he, and his mother, whom he describes in his autobiography as "the fiercest drag queen I've ever known."
By the time he was fifteen, RuPaul was ready to come out as a gay man, and he chafed under his mother's iron rule. He moved into his sister's house, then moved with her to Atlanta.
There, free from parental constraints, he threw himself into the gay life, performing in drag clubs, and, briefly, with his own band, RuPaul and the U-Hauls.
In 1987 he relocated to New York and began the move into the big time. He landed roles in such films as Spike Lee's Crooklyn (1993), Betty Thomas's The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), Barry Shils' Wigstock: The Movie (1995), Wayne Wang's Blue In The Face (1995), Beeban Kidron's To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar (1996), and, most recently, Jamie Babbit's But I'm a Cheerleader (2000) in which he plays the part of an ex-gay camp counselor in "male drag."
His albums, such as Supermodel of the World (1993) and Foxy Lady (1996), have received respectable reviews; and, from 1996 until September 1998, The RuPaul Show aired six days a week on VHI, featuring such guests as Cher, k. d. lang, Eartha Kitt, and Dennis Rodman.
In 2000 he narrated the acclaimed documentary, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, about evangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, a poignant irony for those who recognize the clownishly made-up right-wing Christian Bakker as an unintentional drag icon herself.
After an extended sabbatical from performing, RuPaul returned to active schedule of public appearances in 2004. He signed a deal to co-host the morning show at adult-contemporary formatted radio WNEW in New York City and released a new album, RuPaul: Red Hot. A single from the album, "Looking Good, Feeling Gorgeous," enjoyed a brief stay at the top of the dance charts.
RuPaul enjoys playing with the contradictions of drag. As a Black man, he is very conscious that most white people are much less threatened by him when he is dressed as a woman, even a six-foot-five woman.
However, though he cheerfully bends gender and challenges assumptions wherever possible, he is clear and irrepressible about his identity as a gay man. As he said to Maria Speidel in the September 23, 1996 issue of People Weekly, "I never feel that I dress as a woman. I dress as a drag queen because, you know, women don't dress the way I dress. It's too uncomfortable." (glbtq.com)
Career Achievements
- Studied theatre at North Atlanta School of Performing Arts.
- Lead singer of rock band “Wee Wee Pole” before moving to NYC mid-eighties.
- Was crowned “The Queen Of Manhattan” 1989.
- Achieved international fame with hit song “Supermodel (You Better Work).”
- 1st feature film was Spike Lee’s “Crooklyn.” Has acted in over 50 films & TV sitcoms.
- Recorded a duet with Sir Elton John that reached #7 on the UK charts.
- Awarded a 7 year contract as “the first face of M.A.C Cosmetics.”
- Filmed 100 episodes of TV talker “The RuPaul Show” on VH1.
- NYC morning radio veteran. Currently hosts podcast “What’s The Tee? w/Michelle Visage.”
- Has written books “Workin’ It” & “Lettin’ It All Hang Out.”
- Singer/Songwriter of 11 solo albums including the latest “Realness.”
- Wax portraits of RuPaul are displayed at Madame Tussaud’s Museum in both NYC & San Francisco.
- Merchandising includes dolls, apparel, cosmetics, fragrance, chocolate & a video game.
- Permanent judge on “Skin Wars” on GSN.
- Host of “Good Work” on E!
- Executive Producer of the global phenomenon “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
RuPaul has created a media empire on her own through hard work and being honest to herself. There are pseudo women who create a media circus off their connections to white trash empires. RuPaul is making of herself the most and showing everyone how to pull herself up and to do it her way!
RuPaul thus becomes the First Recipient of the Ultra Awards for Best Performer.
Courage Award
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Officers Hector Fuentes and Peter Gurskis
Police rescued two men from a fiery crash early Friday in the Gage Park neighborhood.
Officers Hector Fuentes and Peter Gurskis were on patrol in the 8th District on Friday when they saw a small sedan cross into oncoming traffic, crash head-on into a truck and burst into flames.
The officers took immediate action and pulled two men to safety before flames enveloped the car.
"We couldn't wait on the fire department to show up," Fuentes said, following the crash. His partner agreed.
"Right place, right time, I think," Gurskis said. "It's just one of those things where we react to these things we see, and we do it. We don't really think about it."
Fuentes and Gurskis, who have been partners for about 15 years, happened to be traveling northbound on Kedzie Avenue behind the small Chevy Aveo when they saw the car's driver cross lanes near 57th Street and crash into a truck. Police said they did not know what led up to the crash.
Fuentes said the truck driver attempted to swerve but could not clear the car in time. Both officers said the car caught fire immediately, and they ran to the vehicle and found the driver's legs pinned beneath the dashboard.
As Gurskis pried the driver's side door down, Fuentes tried to free the driver's legs. The two managed to pull the man free and drag him to safety. Fuentes then went back and found a passenger in the burning car, he said.
By that time, two other officers had arrived, and all four officers pulled the second man out of the car. The two injured men were transported to Mount Sinai Hospital. Police said they are expected to survive. The truck's driver was not injured in the crash, police said.
The two officers, who have both been in the department for 17 years, said they had never encountered anything like a car "exploding on impact," Gurskis said, comparing it to something out of movie.
When called heroes by reporters early Friday, Fuentes admitted to feeling a little fear when he was pulling the men out of the burning wreckage. Gurskis said he believed it was something any Chicago police officer would do.
"I don't think we would have done anything different than any other officer in this department," he said. "That's what we do. That's what we're out here for, and I believe any other brother or sister officer would have done the same thing."
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