Summaries

"Jackie Curtis is not a drag queen. Jackie is an artist. A pioneer without a frontier." -- Andy Warhol. Superstar in a Housedress examines the life and legend of Warhol transvestite superstar Jackie Curtis who was a poet, playwright, performer, and one of the great personalities of his time. Jackie both lived and performed sometimes as a man, sometimes as a woman - and died tragically of a drug overdose under bizarre circumstances when he was only 38. The film features on-camera interviews with actor Harvey Fierstein who played Jackie's mother in "Americka Cleopatra" when he was 18, Ellen Stewart, founder of LaMama Experimental Theater Club, John Vaccaro, founder of the Playhouse of the Ridiculous, Paul Morrissey, Director of the Andy Warhol films, and surviving superstars Holly Woodlawn and Joe Dallesandro, plus 24 other friends and colleagues of Jackie's. The film includes never-before-seen video and film clips of Jackie performing in stage plays including "Femme Fatale," "Glamour, Glory and Gold," and "Vain Victory: The Vicissitudes of the Damned." and cabarets. The music of jazz musician and composer Paul Serrato is featured, as is the photography of Jack Mitchell who took more photographs of Curtis and the Warhol crowd than any other professional. Interviews with media personalities, writers and editors put the work and life of Jackie Curtis in historical perspective. Narrated by Lily Tomlin.—Craig Highberger

Details

Keywords
  • new york city
  • manhattan new york city
  • archive footage
  • tenement
  • writer producer director
Genres
  • Comedy
  • History
  • Biography
  • Documentary
Release date Apr 1, 2004
Motion Picture Rating (MPA) Not Rated
Countries of origin United States
Official sites Official site
Language English
Filming locations Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
Production companies Highberger Media Inc.

Box office

Gross US & Canada $28032
Opening weekend US & Canada $4760
Gross worldwide $28032

Tech specs

Runtime 1h 35m
Color Color
Sound mix Stereo
Aspect ratio

Synopsis

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