David de Alba has done many interviews with female impersonators and other celebrities. He has kindly given consent to reproduce his interviews on TGF. Today we bring you his interview with Brian Keith. (Not the actor in The Parent Trap.) Brian Keith was the last emcee of the show at Finocchio’s famous impersonation club in San Francisco. We also have a video of Keith filling in for Frank Marino in the Divas Las Vegas show.
Legendary female impersonator David de Alba has done interviews with many of the stars of female impersonation. He has kindly consented to allow TGForum to publish some of his interviews. Today we feature de Alba’s interview with another legendary impersonator of days gone by, Laurie Knight. If you like to hear about what it was like in the “good old days” Laurie Knight has a wealth of stories to share. There was the time Knight worked in Bugsy Siegel’s place, and stories from Finocchio’s in San Francisco. Enjoy!
David de Alba kindly allows us to share some of his vast collection of interviews and tributes to the stars of female impersonation. Today we bring you his pictorial tribute to the late, great Craig Russell. Recently we featured a link to an article about Russell in our TWIT column and David let us know about the feature he had compiled.
Fortunately for posterity home video cameras were around in 1980 and David de Alba’s partner Paul Ryner had one. He shot this video in 1980 which documents one of the finale productions featuring The Eve-ettes at Finocchio’s in San Francisco called, A Tribute to Cabaret Night 1980. There is a production number followed by David de Alba […]
The stars of female impersonation in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s were all about glamor and beauty. Only an act devoted to comedy would over-do things and exaggerate feminine characteristics in search of a laugh from the audience. The exotic and beautiful female impersonators worked to be indistinguishable from the actresses and singers they portrayed. Thanks […]
Last month we brought you Part 1 of Kristina Mayhem’s research article on Christine Jorgensen. Today we bring you Part 2 of this look into the life of a woman who is arguably the world’s most famous transsexual. Kristina picks up Jorgensen’s story on the day in 1953 when she stepped off the plane at New York’s airport. As a bonus we also have video of Jorgensen’s appearance on a local TV show in the early ’80s.
Our celebrity female impersonator expert, the one and only David de Alba, has kindly granted us permission to run his interview with former Jewel Box Revue star Robbie Ross. Robbie was on the scene in the 1950s and ’60s. While on tour with The Jewel Box Revue he fell in love with Hollywood, decided to stop touring a settled down to work as a wig and hair stylist. Learn all about his drag career and his work with the stars in David’s interview . And there’s a bonus photo gallery with more rare photos of Robbie.
If you’ve done any research into transgender history you know that there were other people who changed their gender prior to the sensation caused when Christine Jorgensen did it in 1952. Today we present part one of a two part article on Christine Jorgensen’s impact on the world written by Kristina Mayhem. Ms. Mayhem feels that Jorgensen was the most important TG ever. Give her article a read and see if you agree.
David de Alba not only impersonates Judy Garland (as he will be doing on June 22 at The Oynx Theatre in Las Vegas), he collects her, too. David’s Judy Garland collection is extensive and shows his devotion to Miss Garland. He has memorabilia from all portions of Garland’s career, including a pair of her pumps. […]
The new play by Harvey Fierstein, “Casa Valentina,” as most everyone knows, is based on the real Casa Susanna. In the 1960s Virginia Prince attended a weekend gathering there to promote her idea for the Society for the Second Self. The play is a fascinating look into the transgender experience of the early ’60s and it is based on a book of photographs taken at Casa Susanna. In this article Dallas Denny reveals who took most of those photographs and how they ended up inspiring Harvey Fierstein to write “Casa Valentina.”
The Cuban Legend, David de Alba (who has a show coming up at The Onyx Theatre in Las Vegas next month) has series of Celebrity Interviews on his website and he graciously allows TGF to run the best of them every month. The interviews were all done in the early 2000s. This interview is with the […]
They say what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas. Well, that may be so in most cases but one of the features of Las Vegas is that it’s home to drag legend David de Alba. You all know that so the knowledge certainly hasn’t been confined to the city limits. Who starts these […]
Gypsy has been performing since 1950. At 82 you think he’d retire, take of those pumps and relax. But that’s not the plan. We met with Gypsy and his manager last week in Los Angeles and they told us about their plan to build an exciting new venue for female impersonation where Gypsy will be the host and M.C. And they’d like your help to get it started. Read all about it in our interview with a super performer — Gypsy.
David de Alba has done a large number of interviews with female impersonators from the golden years of impersonation. He has graciously allowed TGF to re-publish his interviews and today we bring you another of his encounters with an accomplished entertainer named Libby Reynolds. Glimpse the world of female impersonation in the ’50s and ’60s and read about Miss Reynold’s encounter with Perry Mason.
Our occasional contributor and TG icon Dallas Denny participated in the Moving Trans* Forward Symposium last month at the University of Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Also in attendance were several other TG icons including another occasional TGF contributor Ms. Bob Davis. Dallas posted a review of the event on her website and has […]
David de Alba, the last of the entertainers from the golden years of the San Francisco impersonator club Finocchio’s to still be performing, has always been aware that unless it is preserved the story of the club and the performers of that era will fade away. In order to keep that time and those people […]
In 2001 David de Alba reconnected with former Finocchio’s star impersonator Holly White. After leaving that premier San Francisco nightclub Holly had gender reassignment surgery, continued to perform in venues in Europe and the USA and has settled down in her hometown state, Hawaii. David talks to her about her history from Finocchio’s to now.
When I see the name René de Carlo I immediately think “International Dancing Star.” I visualize beautiful costumes and many lovely wigs that I had the pleasure of styling for him during my run at Finocchio’s in San Francisco. I remember the great transformation that took place in his dressing room. I also recall with […]
Congressman Rob Andrews, a 12 term member of the House from New Jersey has resigned from office to go into a private law practice. While in Congress he was a staunch supporter of equal rights for the LGBT community. Today Bas Casbar-Siperstein thanks Congressman Andrews for his efforts on behalf of the community and in specific for his efforts to include transgendered people in anti-employment discrimination legislation.
To interview the legendary female impressionist Ricky Renée for me is one of the highlights in my Celebrity Interview Series. A wonderful emcee and friend of mine, Carroll Wallace who I worked with for years at the world famous Finocchio Club of San Francisco, would mention Ricky’s name fondly, along with Danny La Rue’s in […]
David de Alba appeared as Judy Garland at The Onyx Theatre in Las Vegas back in November. Here are some highlights of that concert event. [youtube]nFxg70s9Vtk[/youtube] Tickets are now available from The Onyx Theatre box office for David’s next show in June. Finocchio’s Cuban Legend will appear once again at The Onyx on June 22, 2014 […]
Of all the interviews I have done, this is the most difficult for me since I have known Robin Price for so many years. When I purchased my first home in the early ’70s in San Francisco, he lived across the street. We became friends quickly and though he had retired from Showbiz I learned […]
Those new to the transgender community may not have a grasp of what it was like for transgendered people before the advent of the Internet. Information about crossdressing, transsexualism, gender identity and all of the many issues and conditions under the transgender umbrella was hard to find. It was out there in pamphlets, books printed on mimeograph machines and office copiers. Some tomes were published by actual publishers with hard covers but copies could not be found at your local library. Much of what was printed by and about TGs from those days would be lost without the establishment of transgender archives. Dallas Denny tells of one such effort.
In 2001 legendary female impersonator and celebrity interviewer David de Alba sat down with impersonator Jimmy James for a “David de Alba On…” interview. Since that time James has moved beyond female impersonation with costume, hair and makeup to work on a music career that utilizes his vocal impersonation skills. He has released several albums since 2001 and has had a hit single with “Fashionista.” Read what he had to say to David de Alba in 2001.
One of the main interests of Dallas Denny for over 16 years has been making the heterosexual crossdresser group Tri-Ess uncomfortable. Why would a TS like Dallas want to make the ladies of Tri-Ess squirm in their girdles? Is she just a mean girl? A trouble maker? No. Dallas sees hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty in Tri-Ess’ “heterosexual crossdressers only” policies. Has she had any success poking Tri-Ess regarding their rejection of TS and gay transgendered people? Read The Tri-Ess Wars and see.
Friend of TGForum, David de Alba, has an extensive and comprehensive collection of interviews he has conducted with famous stars of female impersonation. From time to time with Mr. De Alba’s kind permission we bring you one of his interviews. Today we bring you his late 2000 interview with British impersonation royalty Danny La Rue. Mr. La Rue was a star of all media from the 1960’s through the 2000s. He passed away in 2009. Enjoy a trip back in time to the glamor and beauty of Danny La Rue, courtesy of David de Alba.
