Lea DeLaria

At 66 years old, Lea DeLaria has this physical status:

Lea DeLaria (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actress, and jazz guitarist.

With her 1993 appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show, DeLaria is credited as the first openly gay comedian to appear on a late-night talk show.

On Netflix's original series Orange Is the New Black, she is best known for her portrayal of prisoner Carrie "Big Boo" Black.

Early life

DeLaria was born in Belleville, Illinois, the niece of Jerry Jean (née Cox), a homemaker), and Robert George DeLaria, a jazz pianist and social worker. Her paternal grandparents were Italian. She attended kindergarten to eighth grade at St. Mary's Elementary School in Belleville, and has referred to her Catholic upbringing in her performances.

Personal life

After two and a half years of dating, DeLaria became engaged to fashion editor Chelsea Fairless in January 2015. The two met through Fairless's friend, actress Emma Myles, who plays Leanne in Orange. DeLaria and Fairless had split in January 2017.

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Career

DeLaria's stand-up comedy career began in 1982 when she moved to San Francisco and appeared on raunchy stand-up comedy in the Mission District. "This is who I am, when I'm up there," Delaria says of her stand-up. That's it. I'm a big butch dyke. I'm a sarcastic. I'm a friendly one. "I'm a big butch dyke with a smile on my face."

DeLaria's 1986-directed "Ten Perpetue," a musical revue with songs relating to homosexuality but the majority of which reference pride in being gay. "Ten Perpetue" was a hit in Boston, San Francisco, Provincetown, Philadelphia, and Atlanta. Many shows were sold out.

DeLaria appeared in "Dos Lesbos," a musical comedy involving two lesbians struggling with the challenges of living together in 1988. The show received very positive feedback around the country.

In 1989, DeLaria appeared in "Girl Friday: We're Funny That Way," a musical comedy.

DeLaria appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1993, she was the first openly gay comedian to appear on a late-night talk show. "Hello everyone, my name is Lea DeLaria, and it's great to be here because it's the 1990s." DeLaria said while on the show, "It's the 1990s."

It's hip to be queer!

I'm a big dyke.' DeLaria later reported that she should not have used the word dyke on the radio because she had been warned that she should not have used the term dyke on the radio. "If she wants to call herself a dyke, that's her business," Hall later responded.

DeLaria hosted Comedy Central's Out There, the first all-gay stand-up comedy special in December 1993.

DeLaria is also known for her touring "pervert comedy" Dos Lesbos (1987–1989), as well as Girl Friday, a comedy she co-created, produced, directed, and starred in, as well as the 1989 Golden Gull for Best Comedy Group in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

DeLaria has released two CD recordings of her comedy Bulldyke in a China Shop (1994) and Box Lunch (1997). In addition, she has written Lea's Book of Rules for the World.

In the 1998 Off Broadway revival of The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told," Paul Rudnick's The Most Wonderful Life Ever Told, DeLaria was Jane. "With Lea DeLaria" of her "showstopping" appearance as Hildy Esterhazy in the 1998 Broadway revival of On the Town, Entertainment Weekly said "a star is born."

DeLaria performed Eddie and Dr. Scott in The Rocky Horror Show's 2000 Broadway revival, and you can view a recording of the show. DeLaria appeared in a number of films, including Edge of Seventeen and The First Wives Club.

DeLaria incorporates musical appearances into her stand-up comedy, focusing on both traditional and contemporary be-bop jazz. Play It Cool, a 2001 edition of jazz standards, was released. In 2003, this was followed by the album Double Standards, and in 2008, The Very Best of Lea DeLaria.

DeLaria was Helga Phugly's voice on Helga Phugly's short-lived animated sitcom The Oblongs in 2001. In the Friends episode The One with the Lesbian Wedding, DeLaria played a woman friend of Carol and Susan in 1996. DeLaria appeared in 1999 on ABC soap opera One Life to Live as both Delphina and Professor Delbert Fina, returning in 2008 as both Delphina and Professor Delbert Fina. She continued to appear Delphina on a regular basis until 2011.

Warner Records' first album, "Down With Love," "Night and Day," "Love Me or Leave Me," and "Come Rain or Come Shine." "I styled this CD on the old school live recordings," she said. This CD will transport you right back to 1948 and the Village Vanguard, according to me. If you want to sit back and soak up the vibes, I encourage you to mix a cocktail and enjoy a smoke."

DeLaria completed a tour of Australia in November 2008, visiting Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Brisbane. She also performs with comedian Maggie Cassella, most notably on an annual Christmas cabaret show in Toronto, Ontario, which also visits many other North American cities. So You Think You Can Dance's version of "All That Jazz" was used on So You Think You Can Dance in July 2010. At the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, DeLaria performed in Pro Pro Protestheus Bound. Carrie 'Big Boo' Black, the recurring character prisoner in Netflix Original Orange Is the New Black, has been black in the Netflix Original Orange Is the New Black since 2013.

DeLaria's voice in December 2014, the lesbian mother of Jeff in the Cartoon Network animated series Clarence, was EJ Randell.

DeLaria received the Equality Illinois Freedom Award on February 14, 2015 for her work as "a cutting-edge performer who has used her talent to entertain and enlighten millions of Americans," Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality Illinois. "As an out-performer who has made it her life's work to change people's views of butch, queer, and LGBT," DeLaria said at the 2015 Equality Illinois Gala in Chicago, "it is an honor for me to be recognized by my home state." I feel I'm doing Belleville proud, as well as a few others.

Go Maroons!

"I'm a sarcastic joke."

DeLaria, a lesbian androgyn, first revealed what went wrong with the butch lesbian stereotypes in 2017, just because she is an androgynous masculine-presenting lesbian.

DeLaria debuted on Broadway in the comedies POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, where she gained acclaim from critics.

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