Roy R. Haylock (born June 27, 1975), better known by the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Bianca Del Rio, is an American

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 ...

, comedian, actor, and costume designer. She is known for winning the sixth season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

''. Since her time on ''Drag Race'', Del Rio has written and toured several stand-up shows, including ''It's Jester Joke'' (2019), which also made her the first drag queen to headline at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...

. She has also performed as a host for various international tours, most notably

Werq the World The Werq the World tour is an ongoing tour featuring drag queens from ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. The tour, created by Brandon Voss and some input by Shangela, is produced by Voss Events in collaboration with VH1 and World of Wonder. It is known for ...

. In 2018, she published her first book, ''Blame It On Bianca Del Rio: The Expert On Nothing With An Opinion On Everything''.

Early life

Haylock grew up in

Gretna, Louisiana Gretna is the second-largest city in, and parish seat of, Jefferson Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. "Gretna, Louisiana (LA) Detailed Profile" (notes), ''City Data'', 2007, webpage: C-Gretna "Census 2000 Data for the State of Lou ...

. He is of

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

descent on his mother's side and Honduran descent on his father's side. He is the fourth of five children. He started acting and designing costumes for plays at West Jefferson High School. After high school, he decided to move to New York City, where he worked at

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. Bloomingdale, Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the bus ...

for nine months before returning to Louisiana.

Career

Haylock has primarily worked as a costume designer. In 1993, he won a Big Easy Entertainment Award for Best Costume Design for ''Snow Queen'' at the age of 17. He has been nominated for 13 Big Easy Entertainment Awards for costume design, winning six. Haylock has also made costumes for

New Orleans Opera Opera has long been part of the musical culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. Operas have regularly been performed in the city since the 1790s, and since the early 19th century, New Orleans has had a resident company regularly performing opera in ad ...

. In New Orleans, Haylock started performing as a drag artist in 1996 in the play ''Pageant''. The local drag queen Lisa Beaumann saw him in the play and later cast him in shows at the nightclub Oz. Haylock won the New Orleans Gay Entertainer of the Year for three years as drag queen Bianca Del Rio. In 2001, Bianca Del Rio was selected as co-grand marshal, with Pat "Estelle" Ritter and Rick Thomas, for

Southern Decadence Southern Decadence is an annual six-day event held in New Orleans, Louisiana, by the gay and lesbian community during Labor Day Weekend, culminating in a parade through the French Quarter on the Sunday before Labor Day. History The event trace ...

XXIX. Haylock moved to New York City after

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

and worked as a costumer for different shows, ballet and opera, having worked for Barbara Matera, Ltd. He also performed in drag as Bianca Del Rio, including in cabaret with

Lady Bunny Lady Bunny, originally known as "Bunny Hickory Dickory Dock" (born Jon Ingle, August 13, 1962), is an American drag queen, nightclub DJ, actor, comedian, and event organizer. She is the founder of the annual Wigstock event, as well as an occasion ...

at XL Nightclub. Notable events included a roast of Patricia Krentcil, better known as "Tan Mom". Haylock starred in the first regional production of ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

'' (following its initial Broadway closing) at Le Petit Theatre in New Orleans, playing the role of Angel opposite

Christopher Bentivegna Christopher Matthew Bentivegna is an American singer, actor and theatre director born in Pennsylvania. He has performed in and directed many theatrical productions in New Jersey, New York (state), New York. and Louisiana. Since 2003, he has lived ...

as Collins. Del Rio was featured in the web series ''Queens of Drag: NYC'' by

gay.com Gay.com was a chat, personals, and social networking website catering to the LGBT community. The site was a digital brand of Here Media Inc. In addition to community features, the site featured LGBT-related news and features. As of September ...

in 2010. The series featured fellow New York drag queens

Dallas DuBois Daniel Logan, better known by his stage name Dallas DuBois, is an American actor and drag queen. Early life Daniel Logan was born in Long Island, New York, on June 9, 1986. Career Logan first started doing drag in 2008. He had previously used t ...

Hedda Lettuce Hedda Lettuce is an American drag queen, comedian and singer who lives and works in New York City. The New York actor Steven Polito debuted his character Hedda Lettuce in 1991 on the Manhattan Cable TV show ''The Brenda and Glennda Show''. Lett ...

Mimi Imfurst Mimi Imfurst (born March 2, 1983), the stage name of Braden S. Chapman (or Braden S. Maurer-Burns), is an American drag performer. She appeared on the third season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and '' RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars'' and was a found ...

Peppermint Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a hybrid species of mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world.Euro+Med Plantbas ...

, and

Sherry Vine Keith Levy, known professionally as Sherry Vine, is an American actor, drag queen, and musician. Vine is the creator and host of '' She's Living for This'', a variety series on here TV. Vine works primarily in New York City and on Fire Island, L ...

. In 2011, Del Rio appeared on ''One Night Stand Up: Dragtastic! NYC'' by

Logo TV Logo TV (often shortened to Logo, and stylized as Logo.) is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment progra ...

. The episode was filmed live at the

Bowery Ballroom The Bowery Ballroom is a New York City live-music venue located at 6 Delancey Street in the neighborhood of Bowery in Manhattan. The Bowery Ballroom holds something of a cult status among musicians as well as audiences. ''Rolling Stone'' magazi ...

and was hosted by

Pandora Boxx Michael R. Steck (born May 2, 1972), better known by the stage name Pandora Boxx, is an American drag queen, comedian, and reality television personality from Rochester, New York. Boxx competed in the second season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', pl ...

Del Rio appeared on the cover of ''

Next Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...

'' for their Summer Yearbook 2012 issue. She appeared on the variety show ''

She's Living for This ''She's Living for This'' is an American television comedy and variety series created by Keith Levy and Josh Rosenzweig. The show currently airs on LGBT cable network here!. The series stars drag performer Sherry Vine. The series premiered on Febr ...

'', hosted by

, in 2012. In December 2013, Logo announced that Bianca Del Rio was among 14 drag queens who would be competing on the sixth season of ''

''. She quickly became a front-runner among the contestants and a fan favorite, eventually reaching the top three. On May 19, 2014, Del Rio was crowned the winner of the sixth season over runners-up

Adore Delano Daniel Anthony Noriega, (born September 29, 1989) better known under the stage name Adore Delano, is an American drag queen, singer-songwriter, and television personality. Noriega appeared as a contestant on the seventh season of ''American Ido ...

and

Courtney Act Shane Gilberto Jenek (born 18 February 1982), better known under the stage name Courtney Act, is an Australian drag queen, singer and television personality. Courtney first came to prominence competing on the Australian Idol (season 1), first s ...

. She was the second winner and fourth contestant to reach the finale without having to

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated thr ...

for her life, and is the first and, to date, the only contestant in the history of the series to make it through the entire competition without ever placing low or in the bottom of a challenge. Del Rio is also the first winner of

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

descent of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. In 2013, Del Rio was announced as the lead in the independent film ''

Hurricane Bianca ''Hurricane Bianca'' is a 2016 American comedy film directed and written by Matt Kugelman. The film's title derives from the starring actor, Bianca Del Rio (Roy Haylock), an American costumer and drag queen, best known for winning the sixth seaso ...

'', written and directed by Matt Kugelman. An Indiegogo campaign was created to finance the film and was sponsored by Fractured Atlas, a non-profit art services organization in New York City; the campaign raised over $30,000. A sequel, '' Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate'', was released in 2018. As of February 2019, a third film titled ''Hurricane Bianca 3'' is in the works and will include Sykes, Dratch and several Drag Race performers in its cast. Following her success on ''Drag Race'', Del Rio has written and toured several stand-up shows, including ''The Rolodex of Hate'' (2014), ''Not Today Satan'' (2015–16), ''Blame It On Bianca Del Rio'' (2017–2018), ''It's Jester Joke'' (2019), which also made her the first drag queen to headline

, and ''Unsanitized'' (2021-2022). She has also performed as a host on the

tour alongside other ''Drag Race'' queens. In 2019, Del Rio starred as retired drag queen Hugo Battersby/Loco Chanelle in the hit West End musical '' Everybody’s Talking About Jamie''. In June 2019, a panel of judges from ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' magazine placed Del Rio first on their list of "the most powerful drag queens in America", a ranking of 100 former ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' contestants. In November that year, it was announced that she would reprise the role for 12 weeks starting December 9. She will also reprise the role on select dates in 2021-22 during the UK Tour of the musical. Del Rio also appeared in the movie adaptation of ''

Everybody's Talking About Jamie ''Everybody's Talking About Jamie'' is a coming-of-age stage musical with music by Dan Gillespie Sells and book and lyrics by Tom MacRae. The musical is inspired by the 2011 British television documentary ''Jamie: Drag Queen at 16'' directed b ...

'' in a cameo role as Miss Haylock, whose name was based on Del Rio's actual last name.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

Music videos

Theatre

Comedy tours

* The Rolodex of Hate Tour (2014) * Not Today Satan Tour (2016–2017) * Blame It On Bianca Del Rio Tour (2017–18) * It's Jester Joke Tour (2019) * Unsanitized Tour (2021-2022)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * *
Trailer for ''Hurricane Bianca''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Del Rio, Bianca 1975 births Living people 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians American costume designers American people of Cuban descent American people of Honduran descent Comedians from Louisiana American gay actors Hispanic and Latino American drag queens Gay comedians LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people LGBT people from Louisiana Nightlife in New York City

Bianca Del Rio Roy R. Haylock (born June 27, 1975), better known by the stage name Bianca Del Rio, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, and costume designer. She is known for winning the sixth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. Since her time on ''Drag R ...

West Jefferson High School (Louisiana) alumni