RuPaul "What other people think of me is not my business."
RuPaul Andre Charles (November 17, 1960-) was born in San Diego, California to a Louisiana Creole mother.
RuPaul lived in a small suburban home with his mother, father, and twin sisters.One of his first memories as a child was lip-syncing to the Supremes in his front yard at the age of five. It was also around this time that RuPaul began to be bullied by neighborhood kids for liking to wear his sister's dresses, they would often taunt him and call him a "sissy".
RuPaul's parents divorced in 1967, and his mother experienced a mental breakdown that would forever have an effect on him. RuPaul's father left the home, and the family of three went on welfare. As he would recall later, "we became little adults, we took care of Mom...we kept secrets from social workers, from Daddy, and from anyone who threatened our family".
Over the next couple of years, RuPaul recalls following his sisters around everywhere. He learned how to dance at one of their friends' homes while listening to records. Unfortunately, the twins ran away from home in 1969. They were fifteen.
Mrs. Charles began to recover, finally, from the divorce. She obtained a job at Planned Parenthood. RuPaul, in and around this time, began to be mistaken for a girl, as he often dressed in dresses and heels, and paraded around for the neighbors.
The years to come were reckless.
One of the twins married a boy from school, two months after her 17th birthday. RuPaul also, at the tender age of eleven, began experimenting with drugs and alcohol. He also developed a crush on an older boy, but "by then, I was already a pro at hiding my feelings...so that's what I did".
When RuPaul was sixteen, one of his twin sisters suggested that he move with she and her husband to Atlanta, Georgia. The three fell on hard times, but finally RuPaul felt as if he found a place where he truly belonged. He received his drivers license, and began to take school seriously--particularly his courses in theater.
This was not to be, however, and RuPaul dropped out of high school and later applied for his G.E.D.
He took a job at his brother-in-law's used luxury car business. Although it was "just to pay the bills", RuPaul enjoyed driving cross country to buy cars, or deliver cars to customers. His brother-in-law did a lot of business with a man in San Diego, which enabled RuPaul to visit his mother regularly.
It was on one of these such visits that RuPaul had his first romantic encounter with a man. A thirty-six year old named Richard swept him off his feet. "I had never even kissed a man!" Ru recalls. It was a week after his eighteenth birthday.
By 1981, Ru was restless for change. He had already reasoned with the fact that he had learned all he could from his brother-in-law, who up until then had been the most forward-thinking, interesting person he had known.
Ru wrote in to a local late-night variety show, which featured a unique tribe of "social misfits"--he wrote about his interest in drag and in campy humor. After expressing how much he loved the show and wanted to be a part of it, the director called him and asked him to appear as a regular.
That was the beginning of a showbiz career that has yet to be completed.
For the next thirty-two years, RuPaul appeared on the radio, television, stage, and the "big screen"--in his own feature indie film Starrbooty. In 1996, Ru even wrote a biography, entitled Lettin It All Hang Out--detailing his younger life, his official introduction to drag in New York during the mid-1980s, and his rise to become one of the most prolific drag queens in the world.
About his career, RuPaul has said, "my goal was always to come from a place of love...but sometimes, you just have to break it down for a motherfucker".
In addition to being in and out of drag whenever his heart delights, RuPaul is currently serving as host to his own reality television show's, RuPaul's Drag Race, fifth season.
Over the next couple of years, RuPaul recalls following his sisters around everywhere. He learned how to dance at one of their friends' homes while listening to records. Unfortunately, the twins ran away from home in 1969. They were fifteen.
Mrs. Charles began to recover, finally, from the divorce. She obtained a job at Planned Parenthood. RuPaul, in and around this time, began to be mistaken for a girl, as he often dressed in dresses and heels, and paraded around for the neighbors.
The years to come were reckless.
One of the twins married a boy from school, two months after her 17th birthday. RuPaul also, at the tender age of eleven, began experimenting with drugs and alcohol. He also developed a crush on an older boy, but "by then, I was already a pro at hiding my feelings...so that's what I did".
When RuPaul was sixteen, one of his twin sisters suggested that he move with she and her husband to Atlanta, Georgia. The three fell on hard times, but finally RuPaul felt as if he found a place where he truly belonged. He received his drivers license, and began to take school seriously--particularly his courses in theater.
This was not to be, however, and RuPaul dropped out of high school and later applied for his G.E.D.
He took a job at his brother-in-law's used luxury car business. Although it was "just to pay the bills", RuPaul enjoyed driving cross country to buy cars, or deliver cars to customers. His brother-in-law did a lot of business with a man in San Diego, which enabled RuPaul to visit his mother regularly.
It was on one of these such visits that RuPaul had his first romantic encounter with a man. A thirty-six year old named Richard swept him off his feet. "I had never even kissed a man!" Ru recalls. It was a week after his eighteenth birthday.
By 1981, Ru was restless for change. He had already reasoned with the fact that he had learned all he could from his brother-in-law, who up until then had been the most forward-thinking, interesting person he had known.
Ru wrote in to a local late-night variety show, which featured a unique tribe of "social misfits"--he wrote about his interest in drag and in campy humor. After expressing how much he loved the show and wanted to be a part of it, the director called him and asked him to appear as a regular.
That was the beginning of a showbiz career that has yet to be completed.
For the next thirty-two years, RuPaul appeared on the radio, television, stage, and the "big screen"--in his own feature indie film Starrbooty. In 1996, Ru even wrote a biography, entitled Lettin It All Hang Out--detailing his younger life, his official introduction to drag in New York during the mid-1980s, and his rise to become one of the most prolific drag queens in the world.
About his career, RuPaul has said, "my goal was always to come from a place of love...but sometimes, you just have to break it down for a motherfucker".
In addition to being in and out of drag whenever his heart delights, RuPaul is currently serving as host to his own reality television show's, RuPaul's Drag Race, fifth season.
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