Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Darcelle: The world's oldest drag queen has died

29/03/2023

Darcelle: The world's oldest drag queen has diedAmerican drag star Darcelle, who was performed by Walter Cole and held the record as the world's oldest known drag artist, has passed away.

by Mambaonline.com

29-03-2023 13:38

in LGBTQIA

The legendary Darcelle was performed by Walter Cole for more than 50 years Photo: Facebook

American drag star Darcelle, who was performed by Walter Cole and held the record as the world's oldest known drag artist, has passed away.

--

The news of the legend's death on 23 March was announced on the Facebook page of her Portland, Oregon nightclub, Darcelle XV Showplace, which she owned and ran. She was 92 years old.

ALSO READ: Gayton McKenzie tells homophobes to take a hike

The family of Darcelle XV along with her cast and crew are heartbroken to announce that our beloved Darcelle (Walter W. Cole, Sr.) has died at age 92 from natural causes, said the club.

We ask for privacy and patience as everyone processes and grieves in their own way and at their own pace. All shows at Darcelle XV Showplace will go on as scheduled per Darcelle's wishes.

Cole performed Darcelle on stage for more than 50 years, starting at the age of 37, reported Oregon Live.

--

ALSO READ: Anti-Homosexuality Bill: ANC, DA, ActionSA condemn SA's silence

His nightclub is said to be America's longest consecutively running drag cabaret.

Cole first married a woman and had children with her before coming out as gay and starting a relationship with his long-time male life partner, fellow performer Roxy LeRoy Neuhardt.

--

Neuhardt, who is credited with coming up with Cole's drag name and was described as the love of his life, passed away in 2017.

Darcelle's history If I hadn't told my wife and family that I was gay, if I hadn't met Roxy, my partner of almost 50 years, there wouldn't be a Darcelle or I would be dead by now, Cole said in a 2019 video.

Darcelle became well-known in the city not only for her bawdy performances but also for her support of several charities and causes.

She was recognised by the Guinness World Records in 2016, then at the age of 85, as the planet's oldest drag queen, a record that she retained until her death.

I'm going to keep working as long as I can. As long as I can still remember what I'm supposed to say [and] I can still get on stage and get off, Cole said in the video. I don't regret a day of my life. No, I did it all.

ALSO READ: World condemns Uganda's anti-LGBTIQ bill

The Mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler lauded Darcelle as an icon who gave us more than great performances, adding that their legacy will live on through their philanthropy, legendary show venue, and the countless lives they've impacted for good.

Cole is survived by his wife, Jeannette, whom he never divorced and maintained a good relationship with, and his son, daughter, two granddaughters, a great-granddaughter and a great-grandson.

Article by Roberto Igual

This article was initially published on MAMBAonlie.com

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLES BY Mambaonline.com

How much of a rugby fanatic are you? FIVE simple answers could win you R1 000 in cash!
LINK: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/culture/lgbtqia/darcelle-the-worlds-ol...
See more stories from thesouthafrican

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

03/06/2026

SES Launches Multi-Orbit Satellite Inflight Connectivity on Viva Airlines

SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...

03/06/2026

CFP, ESPN, and TNT Sports Announce 2026-27 College Football Playoff Broadcast Schedule

The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...

03/06/2026

RED Digital Cinema to Host Panels and Demos at Cine Gear Expo 2026

RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations. P...

03/06/2026

Roku Launches Soccer Zone for FIFA World Cup 2026

Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...

03/06/2026

Liverpool FC and Wasabi Technologies Renew Multi-Year Partnership

Liverpool FC and Wasabi Technologies have announced a multi-year extension of their partnership, with Wasabi continuing as the club's official cloud storage...

03/06/2026

Sky News Australia Deploys Grass Valley AMPP for Cloud-Based Newsroom Production

Grass Valley has announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP as part of the relocation of its n...

03/06/2026

Gudrun Scharler Appointed CEO of Riedel Networks

The Riedel Group has announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 201...

03/06/2026

Clear-Com Deploys Arcadia Central Station and FreeSpeak II at Itaka Arena in Poland

Clear-Com has announced the deployment of its intercom solutions at Itaka Arena ...

03/06/2026

Scott Coker Announces Six Executive Hires for New MMA Promotion

Scott Coker has announced six senior executive appointments for his new global MMA promotion, which launched earlier this year with $60 million in financing. Ad...

03/06/2026

Telemundo Announces Digital and Social Media Plans for FIFA World Cup 2026

Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the FIFA World Cup 2026, has announced its digital and social media programming for the tournament, running Ju...

03/06/2026

Bundesliga Launches AI Assistant 'Captain' in Official App, Developed With AWS

The Bundesliga has announced the launch of Captain, an AI assistant built into t...

03/06/2026

Anthony James Partners Serving as Technology Consultant for UNC Kenan Stadium Modernization

Anthony James Partners (AJP) is serving as technology consultant for a moderniza...

03/06/2026

Audio-Technica Presents 2025-26 Samurai and Presidents Awards

Audio-Technica has announced the recipients of its annual sales rep firm awards for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The awards were presented by Jim Schanz, Executive ...

03/06/2026

iodyne to Demo Multi-Cam Ingest and Color Workflows With RED and Adobe at Cine Gear Expo 2026

iodyne will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 alongside RED Digital Cinema and Adob...

03/06/2026

Women's College World Series 2026: ESPN Brings Out Cinematic Cameras, POVORA CapCams for All-Texas Championship

The broadcaster will deploy 39 cameras for game coverage, six cameras for studio...

03/06/2026

How Comcast Xfinity Made RealTime 4K, Multiview a Reality for World Cup Fans with Vito Forlenza

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is providing a great opportunity for not only Fox Sports...

03/06/2026

Sonys New PTZ Cameras Deliver 4K 60p; New STARVIS Sensor Meets Low-Light Demands

Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p compatible PTZ Auto Framing camera that uses Sony's proprietary AI to automatically recognize and tra...

03/06/2026

NBA Finals 2026: ESPN's 1080p HDR Experience Drives San Antonio Spurs vs. New York Knicks Title Series

Game Creek Video's Flagship A, B, C, and D unit will wind up its first year ...

03/06/2026

New Sponsor Spotlight: Caretta Researchs Evangelos Vrysellas Says Booming Sports-Rights Market May Be Hitting the Brakes

According to Caretta Research, the sports-rights market may be hitting the brake...

03/06/2026

Film Festival Watch: Catch These 11 Must-See Sundance Institute-Supported Films at Tribeca 2026

Retrieval still courtesy of Tribeca. By Jessica Herndon This year, the Tribeca...

03/06/2026

Beat Panner from Sound Particles

Step sequencer-style panning tool revealed Alongside their flagship self-titled sound-design platform, Sound Particles offer an array of creative effects an...

03/06/2026

Eventide to launch the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2

Now features full H90 algorithm library Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...

03/06/2026

Aim Audio's Essence price drop

Significant discount available until 1 October 2026 Aim Audio have just announced a promotion that sees a significant discount applied to their Essence micr...

03/06/2026

Clarification: SBS's position on definitions of antisemitism

Clarification: SBS's position on definitions of antisemitism 3 June, 2026 Media releases Statement by Mandi Wicks, SBS Director of News and Current Aff...

03/06/2026

Rohde & Schwarz to supply CERTIUM advanced communications system to Memmingen Airport

Rohde & Schwarz to supply CERTIUM advanced communications system to Memmingen Ai...

03/06/2026

Clear-Com Powers Itaka Arena with Arcadia Central Station and FreeSpeak II beltpacks

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...

03/06/2026

Comcast Xfinity to Deliver 4K Coverage of FIFA World Cup 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Sony to Show New PTZ Cameras at InfoComm 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Oklahoma City Thunder Tops Nielsen Ranking of Most Viewed NBA Teams

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

SmallHD Introduces OLED 16 4K Production Monitor

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

ANDREW WILSON DELIVERS AUTHENTIC SOUND FOR FILM USING NU...

For more than three decades, Re-recording Mixer Andrew Wilson, AMPS, CAS, has helped bring the natural world to the screen with exceptional audio enjoyed by mil...

03/06/2026

From Stadiums to Campuses to Corporate Studios- Telestrea...

Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will showcase its latest innovations for modern AV production environments at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N...

03/06/2026

DPA ADVANCES INTEGRATED AUDIO SOLUTIONS FOR PRO AV ENVIR...

DPA Microphones will present a comprehensive portfolio of integrated audio solutions designed to meet the evolving needs of today's professional AV environm...

03/06/2026

Lightware Expands Gemini GVN With Full-Featured USB-C

Lightware announces the GVN-HC-TX220AP, a new transmitter in the Gemini GVN 1G AV-over-IP family that introduces full-featured USB-C for professional 1Gb AV-ove...

03/06/2026

Minno Teams with Evergent to Enhance Faith-Based Streamin...

Evergent, the customer management and monetization leader for streaming and digital subscription businesses, and Minno, the global leader in faith-based content...

03/06/2026

Alfalite brings its LED technology to RTVE iconic Teatro...

Alfalite, Europe's only LED display manufacturer, has completed a new broadcast installation with the deployment of two UHD Finepix 1.5 MATIX AlfaCOB LED di...

03/06/2026

Broadcast Solutions delivers new Ultra HD outside broadca...

Broadcast Solutions, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is completing a contract to build eight...

03/06/2026

NAB Launches Merkhet Solutions to Advance Deployment of BPS

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

FCC Kicks Off First Spectrum Auction in Four Years

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Utopai Studios Launches Pai 2.0, Cinematic Storytelling AI System

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Roku Introduces NHL Zone

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Study: Record Revenue Expected for FIFA World Cup 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Frequency Launches In-Scene Advertising

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Creamsource Introduces Vortex2 and Vortex2 Soft

Creamsource, known for its tried-and-true Vortex Series of cinematic lighting, has announced the Vortex2 (V2) and Vortex2 Soft (V2S), two compact additions to t...

03/06/2026

Do not read this media release! Andy Lee's smash-hit show returns to ABC this July

Do not read this media release! Andy Lee's smash-hit show returns to ABC thi...

03/06/2026

Faster, More Flexible AI Matting Fuels Boris FX Silhouette

Faster, More Flexible AI Matting Fuels Boris FX Silhouette Jessie Electa Petrov June 2, 2026 0 Comments The 2026 release helps artists tackle complex ...

03/06/2026

La Tl's National League Hockey Expansion Powered by Blackmagic Design

La T l 's National League Hockey Expansion Powered by Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton June 2, 2026 0 Comments Blackmagic Videohub 120 120 12G provi...