Did you have any famous crossdressing inspirations when growing up?

[DanielleDubois]

As a young teen in the early 70's my most memorable crossdressing inspiration was the fabulous Jim Bailey when he appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show several times. His female impersonations of Judy Garland and Phyliss Diller were excellent but it was his transformations to Barbra Streisand and Peggy Lee that totally amazed me. The attention to detail, the extra long fingernails, thin eyebrows, and cleavage was extremely intriguing and I found it exciting that a male could convincingly present as female. Of course, the slight problem was when I was watching was not to look too interested to my parents.

[Patience]

Growing up in Latin America, there always was a great emphasis on machismo, even though there was a strong undercurrent of homosexuality.

I was too caught up trying to fit in to even think seriously about cross dressing seriously. I couldn’t let go of it until two years ago, even though I had been living in an LGBT friendly area for two decades.

[jacques]

hello Danielle,
my mother was fond of watching Danny La Rue on the television; she thought he had lovely legs.
stay healthy,
luv J

[Robertacd]

The only regular character I can recall seeing is Flip Wilson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_Wilson) and of course Geraldine Jones (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geraldine_Jones_(character)).

[Pixie_94]

No, I don't think there was anyone that could have counted as inspiration.

[Meeshell]

I'm not sure if they were inspiring, but Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari's situation, in Bosom Buddies, was a dream of mine.

Hugs
Meesh

[Taylor186]

In my mid teens The Ugliest Girl in Town (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ugliest_Girl_in_Town) TV series premiered (1968). I remember it in that it featured someone crossdressing in a, more or less, normal everyday way, and seemingly passing. It was a comedy, so passing was in the eye of the beholder. It lasted two seasons and was later ranked by TV Guide as one of the 50 worst TV shows of all time, but there I was in front of our portable B&W kitchen TV watching it every week while the rest of my family watched TV in the living room. My mom had to wonder what had gotten into me (or maybe she knew).

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[edit] You can find the premiere episode in decent quality on YouTube along with three or four later episodes, in really poor resolution.

[Sally Paradise]

I never had any real life inspirations, but I was a huge comic geek growing up and I?m sure seeing that type of femininity and costumes and things like thigh high boots had some effect on my psyche at an early age.

[candice.aihara]

Aspirations, no. However, I do recall watching old Looney Toons episodes where Bugs Bunny would wear women's clothing.

[Sometimes Steffi]

My mother's younger sister was a real fashionista. I always wanted to wear what she was wearing.

[Denice]

I wouldn't say it was an inspiration but I loved watching Monty Python's Flying Circus when I was a kid. Still watching it.

[Asew]

The only ones I knew were crossdressers on talk shows like Maury or Jerry Springer which actually were part of the reason I pushed away my crossdressing and stopped for nearly 20 years.

[Robbiegirl]

George Jetson. He was always pushing the HER button on the auto closet on purpose and getting to wear Jane's Dresses and Lingerie !

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[Jenny22]

I did not have any crossdressing influences that I recall, but Audrey Hepburn! I wanted to be like her!

[candykowal]

Well, since I grew up being allowed to explore my femme side during those formative years, women on TV like
Barbara Eden, Marlo Thomas, and Marsha Brady were very inspirational, but not crossdressers.
Back then, CDers were something you seen at a adult man club that sold booze to older people or in the tabloids doing something seedy.
So I never put 2 and 2 together that, what I was doing was crossdressing.
I was being a girl like those I saw on television.
Sure I knew I was a boy but it didn't mean I couldn't grow my hair long, wear jewelry, support my growing breasts and play act like a girl.
During my last years in grade school, I could not wait to get home and curl my hair, take off those guy shirts and pants and dress up, and watch my fav girl shows.

[jamienoir]

There was also Chris Morley. He was in that episode of "Too Close for Comfort" when Monroe fell in love with her (this is a looooong time ago lol). He was also in an episode of Vega$ and many other things too. I couldn't wait to see that episode in syndication lol.

I remember Entertainment Tonight did a segment of drag queens in the mid 80's - that almost blew my mind.

[steffigirl37]

Christopher Morley in "Freebie and the Bean". I love the dress he wore.

[HelpMe,Rhonda]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnI85cnguK8&list=PL9125EF361353E14F&index=7&t=0s

Christopher Morley on some show called Partners in Crime. A rare thing back then, multiple amazing oufits, somewhat sympathetic character, not a murderer or murder victim.

[Sometimes Steffi]

I totally forgot, but Lauren Bacall taught me how to put on stockings.

I was watching a movie, and she pulled up her stockings by rolling them up and pulling them up her legs slowly.

I just had to try it!

[NancySue]

I, too always envied Tom Hanks in Bosom Buddies. Not that it matters at all, but he did such a great job, I?ve wondered if he isn?t one of us. Same with Tony Curtis in Some Like It Hot. Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie. I loved his last comment in the movie.
There was another movie where guys dressed up to get into a sorority. I would have done that while in college...but...

[April Rose]

When I was very young female singers often performed in long gowns. It seemed fascinating and yet completely forbidden at the same time.

[KarenSusan]

Christopher Morley was hands down my favorite.

[susan jackson]

There was another movie where guys dressed up to get into a sorority

'Sorority Boys' from 2002?

[Teresa]

Danielle,
I agree with Jacques , Danny La Rue made the impossible look possible .

Taylor,
Just goes to show what a minority audience we were then , it still make you wonder how many were closeted and enjoying the show and how many were gievn the confidence to take their needs further .

[BTWimRobin]

Sorry, I had no real inspirations. I was always intrigued by the crossdressers who appeared on the Phil Donahue Show.

[wendy]

My first inspiration :

1) Janet (later episodes) from Three's Company. It was my favourite tv show back then, I watched it religiously. I didn't care for Janet's look/outfits in the early episodes, but in the later ones where she had a semi-mullet hair style, gorgeous yet simple makeup, and the office style outfits - pencil skirt with a thin gold belt, blouse, and heels. She always wore pantyhose, and I absolutely loved it.

2) in the 80s, I remember the tv workout aerobic shows, like 20 minute work out. I loved the tight aerobic suits and spandex leggings the girls would always wear, with leg warmers. I had a few of those but I eventually purged them all.

[Leslie Langford]

In the mid-1980's a VHS video came out under two different titles and at different times- Female Impersonator Pageant and Dream Boys Revue - but the content of each was the same. It featured a beauty contest for female impersonators/show"girls" in a lavish hotel ballroom setting hosted by Ruth Buzzi and Lyle Waggoner of Laugh In and The Carol Burnett Show fame respectively. The contestants were stunningly beautiful, and seeing this totally blew my mind as I had never imagined before that time that such contests could even be a "thing". My hands-down favorites from that event were Michael Andrews who did a bang-on re-creation of an Ann-Margaret song and dance routine as well as Jennifer Fox. Micheal went on to do a number of bit parts playing "transvestites" in otherwise forgettable TV shows and low budget movies along the lines of what Christopher Morley did, and sadly died an untimely death in due course due to AIDS.

Honorable mention here should also go to The Kids in The Hall, and especially Dave Foley who made a very beautiful girl in many of the sketches he participated in. Speaking of which, I wonder how many of my fellow Canucks here also remember the CBC comedy series Codco which often featured the gorgeous Tommy Sexton in various female roles.

Tootsie was also an inspiration for not only showing crossdressing in a positive light, but also as an enlightened and thought-provoking commentary on the male-female stereotyping and gender wars that we are still fighting.

[GracieRose]

No real inspirations come to mind. But I did like to watch Bosom Buddies, and thinking about how I could get myself into a situation like that.

[DanielleDubois]

I guess I should have explained that Jim Bailey was the first female impersonator I had seen. I'm not counting Milton Berle because he was very much a man in a dress characterisation. Many of the others mentioned in this thread were also favourites and inspirations. The wonderful Christopher Morley (he did a great pictorial in Playboy magazine) and Bosom Buddies, I watched them all trying to learn makeup secrets etc.

Theresa, I saw Danny LaRue a few times but being British we didn't see much of him in Canada. If you aren't aware he was featured in a movie called Our Miss Fred ( parts are found on YouTube) where he was disguised as a woman in WWII Germany. Not a great movie but in one of the last scenes where he models several beautiful gowns in a fashion show is amazing.

Leslie, I rented that VHS tape Dream Boys Revue and almost got caught at the school I taught at dubbing it from one VHS recorder to another. Excerpts of it can also be found on YouTube. And you are right Dave Foley made a very passable female on Kids in the Hall but probably his best was on an episode of NewsRadio where at a Halloween party his girlfriend was jealous because he looked better in one of her dresses. But Tommy Sexton in Codco could be truly beautiful in his female roles. His Linda Evans in a spoof of Dallas stands out in my memory.

[Roxy]

Michael Andrews was a big inspiration for me. I didn't know his name at the time or that I was a future crossdresser but back in the late 80s I recorded a couple low budget movies he was in just so I could see him over and over.
He had a glamorous look and I can remember having an overwhelming urge to dress just like him

[Charlotte Haynes]

Charles Hawtrey as Lady Puddleton in the Carry On Again Doctor film. He gets in a bit of a dither with his stockings. Greatly impressed. It wasn't long before I took the opportunity to re-enact that scene.

[Stacy Darling]

UMM? Candy Darling MY IDOL!

[Ashlee]

this video leslie? https://youtu.be/JyGOrLLRic0

[CarleyR]

There were many women who dressed beautifully on TV and in the movies. I remember the Loretta Young show and her dramatic entrances wearing beautiful dresses. Not a crossdresser, but an inspiration to those who liked beautifully dressed women.

[Leslie Langford]

this video leslie? https://youtu.be/JyGOrLLRic0

Yes, but that's just a snippet (opening sequence) of the whole event, which was about an hour long as I recall. Other bits and pieces of this competition are also present on YouTube. The whole thing was a full-blown beauty pageant-type event including an evening gown competition, a fashion show portion, a talent competition, and finally, the crowning of the winner.

Sadly, what was posted on YouTube appears to consist mainly of 2nd or 3rd generation analog VHS tape copies that are grainy and/or blurry, with much of the original detail having been lost. Still, one is able to get the gist of it...not to mention seeing all that 1980's "big hair" along with the typical 1980's fashions in all their glory ;).

Interestingly enough, there is not much evidence of HRT usage here to enhance the contestants' female presentations, unlike in current-day transgender beauty contests. Wigs, makeup, elaborate gowns, and emulating feminine mannerisms were pretty much all they had to work with, but they still did a fantastic job of it.

[SaraLin]

Thinking back to my formative (childhood) years, about the only crossdressing incidents I can remember encountering were in cartoons.
Most of THOSE were where the character fell victim to another. (such Foghorn Leghorn being tied up and made up to look like a hen, or George Jetson falling victim to the clothing machine dressing him wrong.) USUALLY the message was that this was to embarrass or even outright shame the victim.

BUT -then there was Bugs Bunny.

He was the only one I can think of that WILLINGLY dressed up as the opposite gender (and did a good job at it too!)
He wasn't ashamed of it, wasn't a victim of it, and (usually) flirted with male characters - who were fooled by the change.
I envied him that ability - secretly, of course.
One interesting side thought: I remember him planting a kiss on male characters when he wasn't dressed, but always resorted to the old plunger gag when dressed up. Because of the times, I guess?

[Erin77]

Leslie,

I remember Codco. I was more a kids in the hall fan though. I remember looking at those guys thinking why cant I do that? Then I remember my ultra conservative dad lol.

[CarlaWestin]

OMG, there's quite a few of the inner circle girls here. You know who you are. :love:
The first drag movie I was inspired by was Some Like It Hot
(http://www.doctormacro.com/Images/Monroe,%20Marilyn/Annex/NRFPT/Annex%20-%20Monroe,%20Marilyn%20(Some%20Like%20it%20Hot)_NR FPT_34.jpg)All that crossdressing to really pass and Marilyn Monroe.
How perfect is that!

[LilSissyStevie]

I wasn't inspired by crossdressing so much as by gender non-conformity in general. I remember early on seeing a Disney cartoon about Ferdinand the Bull. He wasn't interested in macho bull fighting, he just wanted to smell the flowers. I totally identified with that. Ferdinand was my first sissy role model. Then there were the characters of Jerry Lewis who were unmanly if not effeminate. I greatly admired flamboyant entertainers like Liberace and Little Richard. Tiny Tim was a big inspiration. I used to sing a pretty good imitation of his singing Tip-toe through the Tulips in falsetto. When I was with my homophobic friends, I would mock the behavior of effeminate gay dudes but the truth was that I really admired their ability to be themselves. And it gave me an opportunity to act effeminate. Then there were the crossdressing comedians like Milton Berle, Flip Wilson, and even Jonathan Winters. But I always saw crossdressing as an adjunct to effeminacy rather than an end in itself.

[Manasi]

Eddie Izzard was a huge inspiration for me.

- Manasi

[josie_S]

I didn't have a lot of crossdresser inspirations--in fact most of what I remember is stuff like Sally Jesse Raphael and Phil Donahue and those weren't all that inspirational since the cds were usually treated like sideshow attractions. Although I do remember one female impersonator that did Joan Rivers and I was pretty taken by her. I can't remember his name.

But gg women were always more directly inspiring to me. I LOVED Lynda Carter on Wonder Woman. And like Wendy, I loved Janet on Three's Company, especially in later seasons. That jet black hair and her eyeliner and those pencil skirts like Wendy said were amazing to me. But I had a real revelation when I saw this clip of Heather Locklear dancing on TJ Hooker...I realized I wanted to be like her! Looking back at her "dancing," I think I wasn't that far off LOL! Regardless my life was different from that day forward

https://youtu.be/xC1eZQXz0yM

[KeiraKeane21]

Same for me Josie. GG's were always more of an inspiration to me. Admittedly, Britney Spears was definitely a huge influence on me growing up. She was kinda both my first crush and an inspiration haha. I know there were many more influences, but my thoughts always go back to her first.

As for crossdressers, I never had any one in particular as idols, but more of the whole cosplay community who crossplay. I always admired how much they could transform themselves to fit a character. Being an anime nerd also helped haha.

[Leslie Langford]

I didn't have a lot of crossdresser inspirations--in fact most of what I remember is stuff like Sally Jesse Raphael and Phil Donahue and those weren't all that inspirational since the cds were usually treated like sideshow attractions. Although I do remember one female impersonator that did Joan Rivers and I was pretty taken by her. I can't remember his name.

But gg women were always more directly inspiring to me. I LOVED Lynda Carter on Wonder Woman. And like Wendy, I loved Janet on Three's Company, especially in later seasons. That jet black hair and her eyeliner and those pencil skirts like Wendy said were amazing to me. But I had a real revelation when I saw this clip of Heather Locklear dancing on TJ Hooker...I realized I wanted to be like her! Looking back at her "dancing," I think I wasn't that far off LOL! Regardless my life was different from that day forward

https://youtu.be/xC1eZQXz0yM


You're likely thinking of Frank Marino. He spent many years at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas headlining his drag show A Evening at La Cage. Joan was one of his main acts, and he actually had several FFS procedures done on himself so as to look more like her, as she was always an icon and an inspiration to him. They had a brief falling out for awhile some years back, but eventually became BFF's and Joan ended up being one of Frank's biggest fans and supporters.

Speaking of those '90's talk shows, Frank actually co-hosted one of Leeza Gibbons' shows with her one time, and they dressed as "twinsies". The impersonation was spot-on, and the resemblance uncanny. They truly did look like twins. You can find a clip of that episode on YouTube.

[michelleddg]

Leslie, you've reminded me of one of my all time favorite stories. Five years ago my Girls Do Vegas week was at The Paris. I got my face beat by the incomparable Denise Alvarez midday. Then we ventureed out on The Strip for photos. Nothing blendy about this - party makeup, hot dress, high heels. We made it in front of the hotel and a dude walks up. "You're gorgeous! Are you Frank Marino?"

Hugs, Michelle