Michelle DuBarry is the stage name of Russell Alldread (born November 23, 1931), a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

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'', November 24, 2011. who was awarded the title of the World's Oldest Performing Drag Queen by the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

in 2015."Guinness Names Toronto Resident 'World's Oldest Performing Drag Queen'"
''

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'', December 3, 2015. However, the distinction was disputed by another performer, who was subsequently awarded the title in 2016.

Background

Born in

Bowmanville Bowmanville is a town of approximately 40,000 people located in the Municipality of Clarington, Ontario, Clarington, Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately east of Toronto, and east of Oshawa along ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

in 1931, Alldread was a performer in childhood, winning an award for his singing at the Port Hope Music Festival in 1939."Michelle DuBarry: Was, and is, a lady"
''

Daily Xtra ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former pr ...

'', November 28, 2001. Around the same time, he had his first experience dressing in drag, when his cousins dressed him in a strapless gown for a photo shoot. He continued to be involved in theatre until moving to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

at age 18. He worked for

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and began having relationships with men, although he met and married a woman in 1957.

Performing career

After divorcing from his wife in 1961, Alldread began performing in drag shows, initially under the name Anita Modé. He adopted the name Michelle DuBarry in 1969 upon joining the Phase One drag troupe, taking his new performing surname from the 1943 film ''

Du Barry Was a Lady ''Du Barry Was a Lady'' is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and the book by Herbert Fields and Buddy DeSylva.

''. When his colleagues in Phase One later moved to Vancouver, DuBarry formed a new trio, The Great Impostors, with Tammy Autumn and Rusty Ryan. In his day job, Alldread worked as a women's shoe salesman. As DuBarry, he has been involved in the Trillium Monarchist Society and the Expressions Club, and has held the title of Empress of Toronto in the

Imperial Court System The International Imperial Court System (IICS) also known as the International Court System is one of the oldest and largest LGBT organizations in the world. The Imperial Court System is a grassroots network of organizations that works to build ...

. He continued to perform as a drag queen in Toronto, including bar shows and charity fundraisers for causes such as

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

awareness and

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."Marching on in fine fashion; Popular drag queen chosen to head parade in recognition of her leadership, charity work". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', June 14, 2007. DuBarry served as grand marshal of Toronto's

Pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture, queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

in 2007. DuBarry's signature number as a performer is Nancy LaMott's "We Can Be Kind". Following the announcement of DuBarry's Guinness distinction, some residents of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

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argued that the title should instead be awarded to

Darcelle XV Darcelle XV (November 16, 1930 – March 23, 2023) was the stage name of Walter Willard Cole, an American drag queen, entertainer, and cabaret owner and operator in Portland, Oregon. Guinness World Records had certified him as the oldest drag q ...

, who is a year older than Alldread. Darcelle was awarded the title by Guinness on August 15, 2016. In 2020 DuBarry appeared as a guest in the seventh episode of the first season of ''

Canada's Drag Race ''Canada's Drag Race'' is a Canadian reality competition television series based on the American series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and is the Canadian edition of the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by Blue Ant Studios. In a similar format to th ...

'', appearing as a judge in the Miss Loose Jaw Pageant, that week's maxi challenge. In 2021,

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of Ca ...

's ''

The Doc Project ''The Doc Project'' was a Canadian podcast and radio program, which aired weekly on CBC Radio One.COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and the associated shutdown of nearly all drag-related venues and events in 2020, had dampened Alldread's enthusiasm for going out as Michelle anymore. In 2022, after beginning to show some symptoms of

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

, Alldread moved into a long-term care home, and a sale of some of his drag outfits and jewellery was staged at The 519 in April.Beth Macdonell
"World's once 'oldest drag queen performer' selling costume collection in Toronto"

CTV News Toronto CFTO-DT (channel 9) is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Barrie-based CTV 2 outlet CKVR-DT, channel 3 ...

, April 26, 2022.

References

External links

Michelle DuBarry
on the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:DuBarry, Michelle 1931 births Living people Canadian drag queens People from Clarington People from Toronto 20th-century Canadian LGBT people 21st-century Canadian LGBT people