Landon Cider (born Kristine Bellaluna) is an American

drag king Drag kings are mostly female performance artists who dress in masculine drag and personify male gender stereotypes as part of an individual or group routine. A typical drag show may incorporate dancing, acting, stand-up comedy and singing, eit ...

, actor and host. He won season 3 of ''

The Boulet Brothers' Dragula ''The Boulet Brothers' Dragula'' is an American reality competition television series produced by Boulet Brothers Productions, hosted by the Boulet Brothers. The series originally aired on YouTube and has aired on Netflix in the United States, OU ...

'' and was crowned the "World's Next Drag Supermonster".

Early life and background

Kristine Bellaluna was born and raised in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and performs under the name Landon Cider. Bellaluna began her career as a theatre actor in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. She took a hiatus from theatre following the death of her mother, and later became interested in drag after attending drag shows at the Starlette Revue. In an interview with ''

Gay Times ''Gay Times'' (stylized in all caps), also known as ''Gay Times Magazine'' and as ''GT'', is a UK-based LGBTQ+ media brand established in 1975. Originally a magazine for gay and bisexual men, the company now includes content for the LGBTQ+ commu ...

'', Cider cited male impersonator

Vesta Tilley Matilda Alice Powles, Lady de Frece (13May 186416September 1952) was an English music hall performer. She adopted the stage name Vesta Tilley and became one of the best-known male impersonators of her era. Her career lasted from 1869 until 192 ...

, Australian drag king Sexy Galexy and lesbian icon

Stormé DeLarverie Stormé DeLarverie (December 24, 1920 – May 24, 2014) was an American woman known as the butch lesbian whose scuffle with police was, according to Stormé and many eyewitnesses, the spark that ignited the Stonewall uprising, spurring the cro ...

as inspirations.

Career

Landon Cider began his career performing in the

drag circuit, where he became one of the more well known drag kings. He performs Drag King Explosion at

Hamburger Mary's Hamburger Mary's Bar & Grille is a Drag_(clothing), drag-themed hamburger, burger restaurant chain that started in San Francisco, California, in 1972. The eateries are often in Gay village, gayborhoods and are intended to represent stereotypical ga ...

. He is the master of ceremonies for the annual Los Angeles event series ''Bent'', which celebrates drag and queer identities. Cider was the main focus of Nicole Miyahara's 2013 documentary ''The Making of a King''. Cider began working with World of Wonder in 2016 and appeared on

James St. James James St. James (born James Clark; August 1, 1966) is a television personality, author, celebutante, frequent collaborator with Mathu Andersen, and former "Club Kid", a member of the New York City club scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s. St ...

' ''Transformations''. He later hosted the first King Panel at DragCon. Cider wrote an

op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. O ...

for ''The Advocate'', criticizing

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960; stylized as RuPaul) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ...

's position that females performing drag does not have the irony that males performing drag does. In 2019, Cider joined the cast of season 3 of ''

'', becoming the first drag king to appear on an American drag competition show. He won the season and was crowned the "World's Next Drag Supermonster" by the

Boulet Brothers The Boulet Brothers are drag artists, television personalities, writers, producers and modern day horror hosts. They were featured on the cover of ''Fangoria'' as "Horror's New Icons" in 2022. Their projects have included horror themed televisi ...

. Cider was also a judge on

Alaska Thunderfuck Justin Andrew Honard (born March 6, 1985) is an American drag queen and recording artist known by the stage name Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, primarily known mononymously as Alaska, from Erie, Pennsylvania. She is best known as the runner-up on th ...

's "Drag Queen of the Year Pageant" that year. He was listed on

Pride Magazine ''Pride Magazine'' is a magazine targeting Black British, mixed-race, African and African-Caribbean women in the United Kingdom. This lifestyle magazine has been in publication since 1991. The magazine has a circulation of more than 30,000 copie ...

's "11 Drag Kings You Should Definitely Know About". In February 2020, Cider hosted Pride Union's 18th Annual Drag Show Finals with

Manila Luzon Karl Philip Michael Westerberg, better known by the stage name Manila Luzon (born August 10, 1981), is an American drag queen, recording artist, comedian and reality television personality. Luzon came to international attention as a contestant on ...

. Landon Cider hosts ''Socially Distant'', a digital drag livestream. The show aired on April 2, 2020, and featured drag artists such as

Hugo Grrrl George Fowler (born 1 April 1991) better known by the stage name Hugo Grrrl, is a New Zealand drag king, comedian, and cabaret producer, best known for winning the inaugural season of '' House of Drag''. Upon entering the competition, Hugo Grr ...

and

Charli Deville Charli may refer to: * Charli, Iran, village in Hamadan Province, Iran * Charli, Rajasthan, village in India * ''Charli'' (album), the third studio album by Charli XCX * Charli (name) See also * Carli (given name) *Charla (name) Charla is an Engl ...

. He was featured on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

reality television show ''

We're Here ''We're Here'' is an American reality television series on HBO featuring former ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' contestants Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O'Hara and Shangela. In the series, the trio of drag queens travel across the United States to recruit ...

''. Cider appeared in the 2020 book ''Rainbow Revolutions'' by Magnus Hastings. In September 2022, it was announced that Cider would be starring in the

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

original variety special ''

Huluween Dragstravaganza ''Huluween Dragstravaganza'' is a 2022 Halloween-themed variety special that premiered on October 1, 2022, exclusively through Hulu. The variety special stars Ginger Minj and Monét X Change, with drag legends, ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and ''D ...

'', which aired on October 1, 2022. Cider is slated to appear as a regular judge in the second season of the Canadian drag competition series ''

Call Me Mother ''Call Me Mother'' is a Canadian reality television series, which premiered on OutTV in 2021. Hosted by ''Entertainment Tonight Canada'' reporter Dallas Dixon, the series is a drag competition which will see up-and-coming drag performers join ...

''.

Personal life

Bellaluna is a survivor of

oral cancer Oral cancer, also known as mouth cancer, is cancer of the lining of the lips, mouth, or upper throat. In the mouth, it most commonly starts as a painless white patch, that thickens, develops red patches, an ulcer, and continues to grow. When on ...

. She identifies as a lesbian, and has a wife named Gabi.

References

LGBT people from California American drag kings Year of birth missing (living people) Living people The Boulet Brothers' Dragula contestants {{The Boulet Brothers' Dragula