David Petruschin (born April 8, 1979), best known as Raven, 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 of ...

, make-up artist, and reality television personality from

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

. Raven was a fixture in the South California nightclub scene before gaining international prominence for appearing in both the second 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 ...

'' and the first season of '' All Stars''. Raven placed as the runner-up on both seasons. He also served as a "professor" during all three seasons of ''

RuPaul's Drag U ''RuPaul's Drag U'' (as in "Drag University") is an American reality television series that debuted July 19, 2010, on Logo TV. Its final episode aired in August 2012. It was hosted by RuPaul and a team of drag queen "professors". ''Drag U'' was ...

''. Petruschin has been RuPaul's makeup artist since ''Drag Race'''s ninth season and has since become a creative producer of both ''Drag Race'' and ''All Stars''. For his make-up work on the show, Petruschin received the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Makeup for a Multi-Camera Series or Special (Non-Prosthetic) This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Makeup for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program. From 2000 until 2019, the award was presented as Outstanding Makeup for a Multi-Camera Series or Special (Non- ...

in 2020.

Early life

Petruschin was born to DeShawna and Jose Herrera Chacon (1935-2012) in Victorville, California as the first of five children. Being of Russian ancestry, his mother, who separated from his father when Petruschin was seven years old, raised him a

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...

Career

At the beginning of his career, Petruschin worked as a

cosmetics Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protect ...

salesperson and a freelance

make-up artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions inc ...

for local theater productions during the day, and at night performed in nightclubs as a go-go boy under the name "Phoenix". He started performing in drag in 2002, changing his moniker to Raven. He recalls the exact date to be the tenth of May, where he and Mayhem Miller (another ''

Drag Race Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...

'' alumnus) performed for the very first time. Unlike many other drag queens, Petruschin learned drag without a drag mother to act as a

mentor Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

. As Raven, Petruschin auditioned to compete on the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and second seasons of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''.

''Drag Race'' franchise and makeup artistry

In 2010, it was announced that Raven would be a contestant on the second season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. In the first episode, he won the season's first mini-challenge, a photo shoot. In the second and third episode she landed in the bottom two, having to "lip-sync for her life" twice in order to stay in the competition. He won both lip-syncs. Raven won a second mini-challenge in the fourth episode by guessing the price of various objects, earning her a phone call home; and a third mini-challenge in the fifth episode by successfully decorating a box to reflect his personal style. She won the seventh and eighth main challenges, which involved creating and promoting an autobiography, and giving an older gentleman a makeover, respectively. At the end of the competition, she ultimately placed second behind

Tyra Sanchez James William Ross IV (born 1988) is an American drag queen and reality television personality who performed under the stage name Tyra Sanchez. A frequent drag impersonator of pop star Beyoncé, Ross is best known as the winner of the second sea ...

. Raven was one of many ''Drag Race'' alumni who were invited to act as a drag professor in the spin-off series ''

'', which has screened three seasons. Raven serves as a "drag professor" and mentor to female contestants who are given make-overs. In the series, his persona is not portrayed in a villainous fashion, but instead as a softer and nurturing mentor. Raven made a total of twelve appearances and collected the most wins during the series' run, being dubbed the "Makeover Queen". In an episode of the second season he gave his mother Deshawna a makeover, helping him win against the sisters of Jujubee and

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 ...

. On August 6, 2012, it was announced that Raven was one of twelve past ''Drag Race'' contestants selected to join the cast of '' RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars'' that premiered on the

Logo network 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 progr ...

on October 22, 2012. Prior to the airing of the season finale, Raven (along with ''All Stars'' contestants

Latrice Royale Timothy K. Wilcots (born February 12, 1972), better known by the stage name Latrice Royale, is an American drag performer, recording artist, and reality television personality. She is best known for her appearances on the fourth season of ''RuPa ...

, and

Tammie Brown Tammie Brown is the stage name of Keith Glen Schubert (born September 15, 1980), an American drag performer, reality television personality, and recording artist. Brown was a fixture in the Southern California drag scene before appearing on the ...

) appeared in a television commercial for travel website Orbitz's new portal for

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

leisure travel. He was paired with contestant and best friend Jujubee to form ''Team Rujubee''. They won the mini-challenges in the second and fifth episode by correctly answering questions about each other in the style of ''

The Newlywed Game ''The Newlywed Game'' is an American television game show that puts newly married couples against each other in a series of revealing question rounds to determine how well the spouses know or do not know each other. The program, originally create ...

'' and by scoring more points in a game of basketball, which won them a call to their loved ones. The duo managed to make it to the finals, which aired on November 26, 2012, where Raven again landed as a runner-up, this time to winner

Chad Michaels Chad Michael Storbeck, known professionally as Chad Michaels (born March 20, 1971), is an American drag performer and professional Cher impersonator. He was the runner-up of the fourth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', alongside Phi Phi O'Hara, ...

. Petruschin returned to ''Drag Race'' as RuPaul's make-up artist for the ninth season, episode 3. He eventually received a nomination for the 2018 Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Award in the category "Television and New Media Series: Best Contemporary Makeup". For his work on the tenth season, he received a nomination for the

70th Primetime Emmy Awards The 70th Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in U.S. prime time television programming from June 1, 2017, until May 31, 2018, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was held live on September 17, 2018, at the Mi ...

in the category Outstanding Makeup for a Multi-Camera Series or Special. He won an Emmy for his work on the twelfth season. Aside from doing RuPaul's make-up since 2017, he has served as a creative producer for ''All Stars'' since its third season and for ''Drag Race'' since its tenth.

Other appearances

Featured in a commercial promoting the syndication run of the cable television series ''

Nip/Tuck ''Nip/Tuck'' is an American medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States from July 22, 2003, to March 3, 2010. The series, which also incorporates elements of crime drama, black comedy, family dra ...

'' on the Logo network, Raven lip synced to the theme song "A Perfect Lie" as he caresses a syringe close to his lips. The commercial is based on one of his past drag performances. He also has made a guest appearance in an episode of Logo's reality series, ''

Pretty Hurts "Pretty Hurts" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé for her eponymous fifth studio album (2013). It impacted mainstream radio in the United States on June 10, 2014, as the third single from the album. The song was written by Sia, Am ...

'', which documents the life and career of celebrity medical aesthetician Rand Rusher. Raven was also featured on an episode of ''

America's Next Top Model, Cycle 8 The eighth cycle of ''America's Next Top Model'' aired from February 28, 2007 to May 16, 2007, and was the second season of the series to be aired on The CW network. The winner, similar to all of the cycles aired on The CW network, received repr ...

'', in which he participated in a photo shoot with each of the show's contestants in male drag and paired with a drag queen. Raven made a cameo in the 2011 music video for "

Diamond Crowned Queen "Diamond Crowned Queen" is a song recorded by American drag queen Raja Gemini, Raja, which was released on May 3, 2011, through the record label Citrusonic Flavor Recordings. This was shortly after he was crowned winner of RuPaul's Drag Race ...

" by ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' season three winner

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

. His cameo was praised by critics, who named him the "magnificent Raven". In 2012, along with other ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' contestants, he appeared in another music video, "Queen" by Mimi Imfurst's band Xelle. He also starred in the music video "Feed Me Diamonds" by

MNDR Amanda Lucille Warner (born September 12, 1982), known professionally as MNDR, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. She rose to prominence after being featured on Mark Ronson, Mark Ronson & The Business Intl's 2010 single "Bang ...

. In 2014, Raven and Raja started a weekly

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

fashion critique show on World of Wonder's channel called "''RuPaul's Drag Race Fashion Photo RuView''", where they discuss fashion from mostly ''Drag Race'' alumni. He has appeared on multiple other WOW shows as well. Besides international touring, Raven currently hosts several drag-related events at

gay club A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) clientele; the term ''gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT communities. Gay bars once served ...

s throughout

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 ...

Legacy

In 2016, Raven was included as an inspiration in '' Vanity Fair's'' "100 Years of Drag Fashion" video, alongside iconic drag performers

Divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine< ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, and RuPaul. The video presented his style as the epitome of 2000s-era drag. ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' season six winner

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 ...

has also stated that many young drag queens use Raven's style.

Filmography

Film

* ''

The Bitch Who Stole Christmas ''The Bitch Who Stole Christmas'' is a 2021 Christmas comedy film featuring RuPaul and twenty ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' contestants, among other celebrities. The film, which aired on VH1 on December 2, 2021, is produced by MTV Entertainment Studio ...

'' (2021) as Shopping Lady

Television

Web

Music videos

Awards and nominations

, - ! scope="row", 2018 ,

Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protect ...

, Best Contemporary Makeup in Television and New Media Series , ''

'' , , , - ! scope="row" , 2018 , rowspan="3",

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

, Outstanding Makeup for a Multi-Camera Series or Special , ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' (season 10) , , rowspan="2", , - ! scope="row" , 2020 , rowspan="2", Outstanding Contemporary Makeup for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program , ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' (season 12) , , - ! scope="row" ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' (season 13) , , , - ! scope="row",

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, Best Contemporary Makeup in Television and New Media Series , ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' , ,

References

External links

''Make Up Work! with Raven'' series
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Raven 1979 births Living people American drag queens American people of Russian descent Former Latter Day Saints LGBT Latter Day Saints LGBT people from California American make-up artists People from Riverside, California People from Victorville, California Primetime Emmy Award winners RuPaul's Drag Race contestants Raven Painted with Raven