Monique Gata Dupree is an American singer and a B-movie horror actress, producer and mother of 9, often referred to as Tha Original Gata or the First Black Scream Queen

Scream queen

A scream queen is an actress who has become associated with horror films, either through an appearance in a notable entry in the genre as a frequent victim or through constant appearances as the female protagonist...

.

Life and career

Dupree was born in Newark, New Jersey

Newark, New Jersey

Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...

. Dupree's film career began at age of 14 in the 1989 Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...

 film Lean on Me

Lean on Me (film)

Lean on Me is a 1989 dramatized biographical written by Michael Schiffer, directed by John G. Avildsen and starring Morgan Freeman. Lean on Me is loosely based on the story of Joe Louis Clark, a real life inner city high school principal in Paterson, New Jersey, whose school is at risk of being...

. It was then that she realized that she wanted to pursue acting as a career. By the age of 18, she had done numerous stage productions, including the play Cry of the People by Robert Banks. Dupree's career saw success when she appeared on Fangoria Radio for a "Scream Queen" contest. It was then that she met Lloyd Kaufman of Troma Entertainment

Troma Entertainment

Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974.The company produces low-budget independent movies that play on 1950s horror with elements of farce...

, and landed a part in the movie Pot Zombies. Since then, she's been in over 60 films including American Gangster

American Gangster

American Gangster is a 2007 American biographical crime film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Steve Zaillian. The film is based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning...

, Life Support

Life Support (film)

Life Support is a 2007 American film starring Queen Latifah. It is loosely based on the real life story of Andrea Williams, an HIV-positive woman....

, The Replacements

The Replacements (film)

The Replacements is a 2000 American film directed by Howard Deutch. It stars Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, Brooke Langton and Orlando Jones.-Plot:...

"Satan Hates You

Satan Hates You

Satan Hates You is a 2010 horror film written and directed by James Felix McKenney.-Plot:A homage to end of times Christian horror movies of the 1970s, the story follows the crisis of faith of an unemployed alcoholic and a pregnant, cocaine snorting, pill popping teenager...

" and Bikini Bloodbath Christmas. She also appeared in extensive makeup as the vampire Emerald in the film Bachelor Party in the Bungalow of the Damned. In 2006, Dupree was named Silver Bullet Pictures' "Scream Queen of the Year".

Dupree has also worked as a model. In working with Troma Entertainment in films, she was the first African American "tromette", and the first to be a tromette twice. She's appeared in numerous magazines across the world, including The Autograph Collector Magazine, Primera Linea. She's also worked as a comicbook model as well. In Gingerstein:Rise of the Undead, she plays a character named "Edie Van Horne"

Dupree, also known in the music world as "Tha Original Gata™" is also lead singer of a band named Negro Childe.

Monique Dupree appears at horror and comic book conventions across the United States, including Fangorias Weekend of Horrors, Dark X mas, Monster Mania, Big Apple Convention, and Fear Fest 2.

Filmography

• "Post Mortem America , 2012"
• "Wade" 2011
• "East Fifth Bliss" 2011
• "The Good Parts" 2010
• "Spirit " 2010
• Royal Pains" 2010
• "Spade" 2010
• "Step Up 3-D" 2010
• "The Good Parts" 2010
• "2 Guns a Grenade and a Pizza Guy" 2010
• "The Lovecraft Chronicles" 2010
• "Horror Vault 3" 2010
• Play Dead" 2010
• "Satan Hates You" 2010
• "Heavy Mental " 2009
• "Zombthology" 2009
• "Handsome Harry" 2009
• "The Superagent" 2009
• "Caged Lesbos A-Go-Go" 2009
• "Welcome to My Darkside" 2009
• "Cottonmouth" 2009
• "Z-Rock" 2009
• "Timo Roses' Beast" 2009
• "Skeleton Key 2" 2008
• "The Tyra Banks Show" 2008
• "Law and Order" 2008
• Zombthology 2008
• Bikini Bloodbath Christmas 2009
• One Night 2007
• "Pants Off Dance Off" 2007
• Life Support 2007
• The Ten 2007
• Heavy Mental 2007
• "American Gangster" 2007
• Bachelor Party in the Bungalow of the Damned 2006
• Pot Zombies 2005
• The Replacements 2000
• "Lean On Me" 1989

Publications

• Sci fi espana 8 January 2008, Vol. 1, Iss. 19, pg. 65
• Autograph Collector magazine 1 November 2008, pg. 36
• The YO Magazine 6 December 2007, Vol. 1, Iss. 2
• Sirens of Cinema 10 July 2008, Vol. 2, Iss. 12, pg. 40-41
• Fangoria magazine
• Scars Magazine
• Spanish GQ July/August 2008, Iss.135
• Shriekfreak Quarterly
• "Primera Linea" 1 November 2008, pg. 64, 66

External links

• Official site