Darienne Lake

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Darienne Lake
Darienne Lake at Dragcon by dvsross.jpg
Lake at RuPaul's DragCon LA in 2019
Born
Greg Mayer

(1971-11-27) November 27, 1971 (age 50)
Long Island, New York, U.S.
OccupationDrag queen, television personality
Years active1990–present

Greg Mayer (born November 27, 1971), better known by the stage name Darienne Lake, is a drag queen and television personality. Lake began performing in drag in 1990 in Rochester, New York before rising to prominence after competing on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, placing fourth. Vulture ranked Lake as one of the top 100 most powerful drag queens in America in 2019.[1]

Early life[]

Lake was born in Long Island, New York and moved to Rochester at age eleven.[2] At age eighteen, her mother kicked her out of her home due to her sexual orientation; her mother has since apologized.[3]

Career[]

Early work[]

Lake’s drag career began in Rochester, New York following her first year of college in 1990.[2] She was inspired by a drag queen’s performance as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in a local production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.[4] When her friends put her up in drag, they said she resembled Ricki Lake in Hairspray (1988); the stage name Darienne Lake is an homage to her as well as to the Six Flags Darien Lake amusement park.[4] Lake later appeared on a 1997 episode of The Ricki Lake Show about plus-sized drag queens.[5][6] Lake's drag mother, Naomi Kane, was also the drag mother of Mrs. Kasha Davis.[7]

Since the 1990s, Lake has been active in the New York drag community and has performed across the United States and internationally.[4][8] Lake held the title of Miss Gay Rochester in 1998-1999.[9][10]

In 2003, she appeared in a VH1 documentary about drag titled Boys Will Be Girls, alongside her drag daughter Pandora Boxx, who went on to become a contestant on the second season of RuPaul’s Drag Race as well as the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.[4][8]

Drag Race[]

Lake rose to international prominence after winning the fan vote to appear on the sixth season of Drag Race. During the series, Lake won a main challenge (episode three) and ultimately finished the competition in fourth place behind Adore Delano, Courtney Act, and eventual winner Bianca Del Rio.[4]

In 2018, Lake appeared in Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate.[11] Vulture ranked Lake as one of the top 100 most powerful drag queens in America in 2019.[1]

Lake has been praised for her lip syncing skills, having survived three lip syncs for your life on Drag Race.[12][13] IndieWire wrote that Lake "lip syncs like the rent is due."[12]

Personal life[]

In 2020, Lake underwent surgery for melanoma.[14]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Year Title Role Notes
2003 Boys Will Be Girls Herself
2008 Mrs. Kasha Davis: The Life of an International Housewife Celebrity Gladys Butts Short film, credited as Greg Mayer
2015 This is Drag Herself
2018 Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate Gorky Park

Television[]

Year Title Role Notes
1997 The Ricki Lake Show Herself Episode: "Get a Grip Doll... You're Too Fat to Be a Drag Queen"
2014 Rupaul’s Drag Race Herself
2018 Hey Qween! Herself

References[]

  1. ^ a b "The Most Powerful Drag Queens in America Ranking the new establishment". Vulture.
  2. ^ a b Schonewolf, Josh. "#FeatureFriday: Catching Up With Darienne Lake".
  3. ^ Middleton, Josh. "Girl Talk: Chit-Chatting with Darienne Lake".
  4. ^ a b c d e Rezsnyak, Eric. "The Lake Effect".
  5. ^ "Season 6 Spotlight: Darienne Lake". Drag Official. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  6. ^ Get a grip doll... you're too fat to be a drag queen part 1 ricki lake, retrieved 2022-01-05
  7. ^ Guerra, Joey. "Mrs. Kasha Davis talks 'RuPaul's Drag Race' elimination". Chron.com. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Kasha & Darienne: 80's Ladies". Spin Cycle.
  9. ^ "Miss Gay Rochester – Our Community Roots". Archived from the original on 2017-02-06. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  10. ^ Darienne Lake Making Love Out of Nothing at All, retrieved 2022-01-05
  11. ^ Rudolph 10/27/2017, Christopher. "Bianca Del Rio Is Behind Bars On The Set Of "Hurricane Bianca 2"". LOGO News. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  12. ^ a b Rosebrugh, Gregory (2014-05-02). "Ranking the Glitter Ball Down: A Breakdown of the Final Four of Rupaul's Drag Race, Season Six". IndieWire. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  13. ^ Rezsnyak, Eric. ""RuPaul's Drag Race" Season 6, Episode 11: Glitter Ball". CITY News. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  14. ^ Costas, Constance. "Drag Queen, Darienne Lake, From 'Rupaul's Drag Race' Reveals 'Gnarly Scars' From Melanoma Surgery: 'Not Today, Cancer'". Survivornet. Retrieved 5 September 2020.

External links[]

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