Life's a Drag!: Danny La Rue and the Drag Scene - Hardcover

Underwood, Peter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0856320811 ISBN 13: 9780856320811

Publisher: Imprint unknown, 1974

Synopsis

Biography narrating the rise and success of the Irish-born British entertainer (known for his singing and cross-dressing performances) in the context of the 'drag' scene of the time.

About this title

About the Author

Peter Underwood, world-renowned Ghost Hunter, 'Sherlock Holmes of psychical research', was author of over 50 books on all things paranormal...

From the Inside Flap

Life's A Drag! - an evocative title for a very contemporary and compelling book!

While it is true that there have been forms of drag, both private and public, since earliest times, as a form of modern entertainment drag in recent years has developed into a phenomenon which is now a world-wide multi-million pound entertainment industry in itself.

This penetrating study, giving a depth background of the world drag scene is, however, primarily a book about one drag artist - the hugely-successful Danny La Rue, himself a veritable Industry of Drag and unquestionably the highest-paid performer of his type in the world. Strangely, no one has previously written a book about Danny la Rue, probably because he is a very private person despite his huge public persona.

To write this work, Peter Underwood, the well-established author of the highly-successful Boris Karloff biography, Horror Man (Leslie Frewin) and other books, researched widely and interviewed nearly seventy people close to the drag star - people who have worked with Danny la Rue both on and off stage over many years.

The result is this absorbing story of a unique star which intimately surveys the life and work of the Irish Danny la Rue. He started on the stage in a village hall, later joined the Navy at 17 and became in turn a window dresser, chorus boy and then left the stage to work in a shop, returning to the theatre and the chorus to become a dancer and drag artist in an all-male show (which he left because he couldn't stand it). He was eventually spotted in a small revue at London's Irving Theatre and offered his big chance in cabaret at Bond Street's Churchill Club.

So began the real success story of the fabulous Danny la Rue - a succession of successes: His own exclusive night club, recordings, countless pantomime hit shows, two Royal Command Performances, his first film, his three homes, three cars, greyhounds and racehorses, his hugely successful summer seasons, television appearances and the acclamation by the Variety Club of Great Britain as 'Show Business Personality of The Year'.

Surrounding the story of the inimitable Danny la Rue is a vivid examination of the Drag Scene which has projected Danny's success - how it has become a major entertainment phenomenon in top theatres, on TV, films and in pubs and clubs throughout the world. Author Underwood relevantly appraises the lure of drag, the pleasures and the pain, the hard work, the dangers and the impact of what is daily becoming an ever-growing phenomenon of the twentieth century's Permissive Age.

Life's A Drag! is essentially a Leslie Frewin 'Book of Our Time': it is copiously illustrated.

Edition details

• Publisher: Imprint unknown
• Publication date: 1974
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0856320811
• ISBN 13: 9780856320811
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192