Lynne Carter
Encyclopedia
Lynne Carter was a prominent entertainer, actor
, and female impersonator.
, Carter served in the United States Navy
during World War II
. He began his performance career in 1947 in a Chicago
nightclub where he met Pearl Bailey
who became an early supporter of his act. Kay Thompson
's threat to sue him was to his benefit, and through it he became known in Los Angeles. As an encouragement, Josephine Baker
gave him numerous Dior
and Balenciaga
gowns and tutored him in French.
Carter worked with big band
s (typically 15 musicians), small ensembles, and with a solo pianist, as well as other dancers, such as the Jewel Box Review Chorus Boys and the Four Cartiers. He impersonated many famous actresses and singers including Pearl Bailey, Josephine Baker
, Tallulah Bankhead
, Fanny Brice
, Carol Channing
, Cher
, Bette Davis
, Marlene Dietrich
, Phyllis Diller
, Hermione Gingold
, Hildegarde, Eartha Kitt
, Ethel Merman
, Barbra Streisand
, Kay Thompson
, and Mae West
. He also created several original characters. He is best known for starting in the long-running Jewel Box Review showcase.
Carter recorded one album entitled She's a He in 1957 on Fiesta Records. He appeared on the Merv Griffin and Mike Douglas TV Shows (1960s), in the Fun City Review (1968), and in the film The Man from O.R.G.Y. (1970). In 1971 Carter became the first female impersonator to perform at Carnegie Hall
.
Critics attributed his success to his ability to give his characterizations authenticity and depth as well as humor.
Carter's final performances were in "Hooray for Hollywood," a revue at the St. Regis-Sheraton Hotel
in 1984. After suffering declining health caused by multiple heart attacks and AIDS
related complications, Carter died of pneumonia
in Manhattan
in 1985.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, and female impersonator.
Biography
Born in Cleveland, OhioCleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, Carter served in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He began his performance career in 1947 in a Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
nightclub where he met Pearl Bailey
Pearl Bailey
Pearl Mae Bailey was an American actress and singer. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946. She won a Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968...
who became an early supporter of his act. Kay Thompson
Kay Thompson
Kay Thompson was an American author, composer, musician, actress and singer. She is best known as the creator of the Eloise children's books.-Background:Catherine Louise Fink was born in St...
's threat to sue him was to his benefit, and through it he became known in Los Angeles. As an encouragement, Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker was an American dancer, singer, and actress who found fame in her adopted homeland of France. She was given such nicknames as the "Bronze Venus", the "Black Pearl", and the "Créole Goddess"....
gave him numerous Dior
Dior
Dior can mean:* Christian Dior SA, a French clothing retailer* In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth legendarium:**Dior Eluchíl, a Half-elven of the First Age**Dior , a Steward of GondorDior is a surname, and may refer to:...
and Balenciaga
Balenciaga
Balenciaga is a fashion house founded by Cristóbal Balenciaga, a Basque designer, born in the Basque Country, Spain. He had a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as "the master of us all" by Christian Dior. His bubble skirts and odd, feminine, yet ultra-modern...
gowns and tutored him in French.
Carter worked with big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
s (typically 15 musicians), small ensembles, and with a solo pianist, as well as other dancers, such as the Jewel Box Review Chorus Boys and the Four Cartiers. He impersonated many famous actresses and singers including Pearl Bailey, Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker was an American dancer, singer, and actress who found fame in her adopted homeland of France. She was given such nicknames as the "Bronze Venus", the "Black Pearl", and the "Créole Goddess"....
, Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was an award-winning American actress of the stage and screen, talk-show host, and bonne vivante...
, Fanny Brice
Fanny Brice
Fanny Brice was a popular and influential American illustrated song "model," comedienne, singer, theatre and film actress, who made many stage, radio and film appearances and is known as the creator and star of the top-rated radio comedy series, The Baby Snooks Show...
, Carol Channing
Carol Channing
Carol Elaine Channing is an American singer, actress, and comedienne. She is the recipient of three Tony Awards , a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination...
, Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
, Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
, Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Diller is an American actress and comedian. She created a stage persona of a wild-haired, eccentrically dressed housewife who makes jokes about a husband named "Fang" while pretending to smoke from a long cigarette holder...
, Hermione Gingold
Hermione Gingold
Hermione Gingold was an English actress known for her sharp-tongued, eccentric persona, an image enhanced by her sharp nose and chin, as well as her deepening voice, a result of vocal nodes which her mother reportedly encouraged her not to remove. She starred on stage, on radio, in films, on...
, Hildegarde, Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...
, Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her powerful voice and roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm", "Everything's...
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, Kay Thompson
Kay Thompson
Kay Thompson was an American author, composer, musician, actress and singer. She is best known as the creator of the Eloise children's books.-Background:Catherine Louise Fink was born in St...
, and Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
. He also created several original characters. He is best known for starting in the long-running Jewel Box Review showcase.
Carter recorded one album entitled She's a He in 1957 on Fiesta Records. He appeared on the Merv Griffin and Mike Douglas TV Shows (1960s), in the Fun City Review (1968), and in the film The Man from O.R.G.Y. (1970). In 1971 Carter became the first female impersonator to perform at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
.
Critics attributed his success to his ability to give his characterizations authenticity and depth as well as humor.
Carter's final performances were in "Hooray for Hollywood," a revue at the St. Regis-Sheraton Hotel
The St. Regis Hotel
The St. Regis New York is a Forbes five-star, AAA five-diamond luxury hotel in Manhattan. It stands on Fifth Avenue, four blocks from Central Park.-Construction and opening:...
in 1984. After suffering declining health caused by multiple heart attacks and AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
related complications, Carter died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in 1985.
External links
- Lynne Carter collection 1950s–1975. The performer's personal papers and scores, in the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
- Lynne Carter Articles and Images. Drag Artists Discography.
- History of the Jewel Box Review.