Michelle Ross (drag queen)
Michelle Ross | |
---|---|
North York, Ontario , Canada | |
Nationality | Canadian |
Occupation | Drag queen |
Years active | 1974 - 2021 |
Michelle Ross was the stage name of Earl Barrington Shaw (August 5, 1954 – March 27, 2021),
Career
She performed in drag for the first time at Toronto's Club Manatee in 1974, to Dionne Warwick's "Anyone Who Had a Heart".[4] In Toronto, she was a regular performer at bars in the Church and Wellesley gay village, and a frequent performer at Pride Toronto's Blockorama parties.[5] She also performed internationally, including a six-year stint as part of the cast of a touring production of La Cage aux Folles.[6] She had small acting roles in the 1977 film Outrageous!,[6] and the 2014 film Seek,[7] and appeared in the documentary films Divas: Love Me Forever[8] and Our Dance of Revolution.[9]
Throughout her career, she was known for performing to the music of disco and soul music divas such as Patti LaBelle, Gloria Gaynor and Gladys Knight, but was most famous for her performances of Diana Ross songs.[10] As of 2018, she had performed on stage at least 15,000 times.[4] Dancer and choreographer Hollywood Jade got his start choreographing numbers for Ross.[11]
She once expressed her drag philosophy about the difference between men and women as "Both sides are equally part of the glamour. I see them as stories that are ready for a makeover."[4] Her signature move was to remove her wig at the end of her set, to call attention to drag as a performance.[12]
Legacy
In 2019, she was named as one of 69 key Canadian LGBTQ icons in the
In the
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1977 | Outrageous! | Performer in Pink | Credited as "Michel" | [6] |
2002 | Divas: Love Me Forever | Herself | Documentary | [8] |
2014 | Seek | Michelle Ross | [7] | |
2019 | Our Dance of Revolution | Herself | Documentary | [9] |
References
- Dignity Memorial.
- ^ a b "A Toronto drag queen who 'wowed audiences' has died and people are paying tribute". CBC News Toronto, March 29, 2021.
- ^ "Toronto mourns loss of Canadian drag icon Michelle Ross". CTV News Toronto, March 29, 2021.
- ^ a b c Elio Iannacci, "Long live the queens: How drag culture went mainstream". The Globe and Mail, June 24, 2018.
- Xtra!, June 28, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Kevin Ritchie, "Toronto mourns drag queen Michelle Ross". Now, March 29, 2021.
- ^ Xtra!, January 27, 2014.
- ^ a b Brian Bradley, "Toronto drag queen Michelle Ross exuded the glamorous life onstage and off". Toronto Star, March 30, 2020.
- ^ a b Amanda Parris, "Our Dance of Revolution: This new film builds a timeline of Black queer activism in Toronto". CBC Arts, June 7, 2019.
- ^ Mitchel Raphael, "Me, myself and Diana: Diana Ross kicks off her Canadian tour July 3.: Funny, we thought we saw her in a club a couple of weeks ago". National Post, July 1, 2000.
- ^ Jason Vermes, "How Canada's Drag Race helped this Black, queer choreographer make his mark". Tapestry, October 10, 2021.
- ISBN 978-0889204997.
- ^ "Michelle Ross". CBC Arts.
- Xtra!, September 9, 2022.