Sandra "Sandie" Crisp
(January 13, 1960 – January 27, 2021), better known by her stage name The Goddess Bunny, was an American entertainer,
drag queen
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...
, actor, and model.
Footage of her
tap dancing
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perfo ...
, originally recorded around 1987, was the subject of one of the first viral videos.
Life and career
Sandie Crisp was born on January 13, 1960,
in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
, to John Wesley Baima, an Italian lawyer,
and Betty Baima, a half-
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
secretary.
Much of what is known of Crisp's life comes from her own retellings of events, some of which were fabricated. For instance, in 2018, Crisp claimed to have participated in the first Paralympic Games in 1974, but no such event took place that year in Los Angeles, where Crisp was based at the time.
Crisp was a
transgender woman
A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and som ...
, transitioning in the late 1970s.
She performed as a drag queen during evenings.
After meeting fellow drag queen
Glen Meadmore
Glen Meadmore is a Canadian musician, actor, and performance artist currently residing in Los Angeles, United States. His music is often described as Cowpunk.
Biography
Glen Meadmore was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. As a teenager, Meadm ...
on the set of ''Hollywood Vice Squad'', Crisp would become his friend and collaborator.
She contracted
polio
Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...
soon after birth. Crisp was subject to the
malpractice
In the law of torts, malpractice, also known as professional negligence, is an "instance of negligence or incompetence on the part of a professional".Malpractice definition,
Professionals who may become the subject of malpractice actions inc ...
of multiple doctors resulting in the further disfigurement of her body. Crisp used a wheelchair throughout her life.
Crisp lived in various foster homes for disabled children following the divorce of her parents. She routinely endured physical and
sexual abuse
Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...
from members of her foster care families largely due to her gender identity and disability. Crisp returned to her mother's home during her teens, coming out as a
trans woman
A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...
aged 14.
Her mother was deeply religious and rejected her gender identity, insisting on
calling Crisp by her birth name, although Crisp would return to live with her mother at times during her adult life.
Crisp began pursuing a career in the entertainment industry immediately after graduating from high school.
She made her acting debut as Charlean in the 1986 film ''
Hollywood Vice Squad
''Hollywood Vice Squad'' is a 1986 film directed by Penelope Spheeris with music by Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd. It marked Robin Wright
Robin Gayle Wright (born April 8, 1966) is an American actress. She has won a Golden Globe Award a ...
.'' She later made an appearance in the music video for "
The Dope Show
"The Dope Show" is a song by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released in September 1998 as the lead single from their third studio album ''Mechanical Animals''. The lyrics were written by Marilyn Manson and the music composed by Twiggy ...
" by
Marilyn Manson
Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...
.
Crisp claims she was "paid nothing from the start" for her roles in music videos.
In 1994, she was the subject of a documentary titled ''
The Goddess Bunny'', directed by
Nick Bougas.
Another documentary about Crisp, titled ''Bunny'' and made by Hunter Ray Barker, was released in 2019. The film is based in the assisted living facility Crisp resided in during her later years, and features fans of Crisp including
Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; he, חיים ויץ, ; born August 25, 1949) is an Israeli-American musician. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the hard rock band he co-founded with Paul ...
.
The
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
has ''The Goddess Bunny as Leda'' (1986), a nude photo of Crisp taken by
Joel-Peter Witkin
Joel-Peter Witkin (born September 13, 1939) is an American photographer who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His work often deals with themes such as death, corpses (and sometimes dismembered portions thereof), often featuring ornately decorated ...
, as part of its permanent collection.
Personal life
Although Bunny had no biological children of her own, she informally 'adopted' fans including photographer Chuck Grant, who is the sister of pop musician
Lana Del Rey
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent ...
.
She reportedly met one of her sons, film director Hunter Ray Barker, in a Mexican restaurant.
Crisp acted as a muse for Barker, who made a short documentary film about her.
Death
Crisp lived at an assisted living facility in
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...
, towards the end of her life.
She died of
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
in Los Angeles, on January 27, 2021, 14 days after her 61st birthday.
Lana Del Rey posted a tribute to Crisp on her Instagram page. Crisp's son, Hunter Ray Barker, created a
GoFundMe
GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the b ...
appeal to raise money to cover Crisp's funeral expenses, seeking to honor her wish to be buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Filmography
Films
''Note''
Television credits
Music video credits
References
External links
*
*
Goddess Bunnyon
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
Goddess Bunnyon YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goddess Bunny
1960 births
2021 deaths
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
American actors with disabilities
Actresses from Santa Monica, California
American film actresses
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in California
Female models from California
American transgender actors
LGBT culture in Los Angeles
LGBT people from California
People with HIV/AIDS
Transgender actresses
Transgender female models
Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election
American drag queens
Transgender drag performers