Danny La Rue
When I was little, Danny La Rue (like anything else to do with boys being girls) was subject to my intense attention.
Like all children, I had hard and fast rules about what girls could do, and what boys could do, and had a great deal of difficulty when people didn't follow those rules. Danny was a man, but he looked like a woman. That took a lot of getting my head around.
Later on, when I started to want to try dressing up myself, people like Danny annoyed me. They were doing it wrong, it wasn't supposed to be easy! Danny La Rue didn't even have a girl's name!
And then, when I did start dressing myself, I realised how amazingly skillful Danny was at what he did. I didn't want to be like him, but I respected and admired what he did.
He died today, aged 81. I can't pretend that I really saw him as a role model, but he was a great entertainer, and by doing what he did with humour and without apology, he did a lot for making all men in frocks more acceptable in the UK.
Like all children, I had hard and fast rules about what girls could do, and what boys could do, and had a great deal of difficulty when people didn't follow those rules. Danny was a man, but he looked like a woman. That took a lot of getting my head around.
Later on, when I started to want to try dressing up myself, people like Danny annoyed me. They were doing it wrong, it wasn't supposed to be easy! Danny La Rue didn't even have a girl's name!
And then, when I did start dressing myself, I realised how amazingly skillful Danny was at what he did. I didn't want to be like him, but I respected and admired what he did.
He died today, aged 81. I can't pretend that I really saw him as a role model, but he was a great entertainer, and by doing what he did with humour and without apology, he did a lot for making all men in frocks more acceptable in the UK.
I remember enjoying his film when I was little.
Our Miss Fred I think it was called
RIP sweetie...
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