Leading Lady: A Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy

by Charles Busch

Overview

A poignant, deliciously anecdotal account of a talented artist's Oz-like journey in the worlds of Off-Broadway, Broadway, and Hollywood

The Tony Award-nominated writer of The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife and the long-running hit Off-Broadway play Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, and a Sundance Festival award winner, Charles Busch has created a unique place in the entertainment world as a playwright, LGBT icon, drag actor, director, and cabaret performer, with his extraordinary gift for both connecting with and channeling the leading ladies of show business.

In wonderfully readable chapters, by turns comic and moving, Charles writes how ever since his mother's death when he was seven, he has sought out surrogate mothers in his life. In his teens, Charles moved to Park Avenue in Manhattan to live with his Auntie Mame-like Aunt Lil, who encouraged and nourished Charles’ talents and dreams, and eventually he discovered his gifts for writing plays and performing as a male actress.

Busch also shares his colorful and sometimes outlandish interactions with film and theatrical luminaries including the hilarious comedian Joan Rivers (who became a mother figure to Charles after Aunt Lil’s death), Angela Lansbury (who attended her first Passover seder with Charles), Rosie O’Donnell, Claudette Colbert, Valerie Harper, Kim Novak, and many others.

Full of both humor and heart and featuring rare photos, Leading Lady is for readers of entertainment books as well as anyone who enjoys real-life stories of artists who break the mold, ditch the boundaries, and find their own unique way to sparkle.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781637744147
Publisher:	BenBella Books, Inc.
Publication date:	09/12/2023
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	309,659
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Charles Busch is an actor, playwright, and drag legend. He is the author and star of many plays, including Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, one of the longest-running plays in Off-Broadway history. His play The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife played 777 performances on Broadway and received a Tony nomination for Best Play. Busch wrote and starred in the film versions of his plays Psycho Beach Party and Die Mommie Die, the latter of which won him the Best Performance Award at the Sundance Film Festival. He has been honored with a special Drama Desk Award for career achievement as both performer and playwright and he also received the Flora Roberts Award for Sustained Achievement in the theater by the Dramatist’s Guild.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A mosaic of reminiscence and self-analysis."
—The New York Times

"Features wry humor, anecdotal history, impressive candor, and rare photos.”
—Midwest Book Review

“Absolutely captivating . . . This joyful, upbeat, and witty memoir will likely capture the hearts of theater and movie buffs.” 
—Library Journal, starred review

“A magical tale of how Charles brought drag into the present by celebrating the glamour of the past.”
—Sarah Jessica Parker
 
“Leading Lady is both a page-turner with name-drops and a book depicting the thrill of creation. If you aren’t sure of Charles Busch’s influence on your own world, you will be spellbound, and you will also come away with a new mentor for living an unafraid life true to who you are.”
—Jim Parsons
 
“Fascinating, elegant, frank, and unputdownable. I devoured this book with a glee that could only be surpassed by watching Charles Busch perform live!”
—Alan Cumming
 
“I have loved Charles Busch since I first clapped eyes on him—he’s an actor, an actress, a writer, a director, a peerless raconteur and wit, and a sentimental gentleman from my favorite school, the old school.”
—Bette Midler
 
“I’ll read, watch, and listen to anything Charles does. Drag and Hollywood royalty combined in one Grande Dame. Leading Lady indeed!”
—Jinkx Monsoon
 
 “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Turner Classic Movies dated RuPaul’s Drag Race and they conceived an adorable little one who grew up to be the lady in question: Charles Busch. Saddle up for a brilliant, hilarity-soaked ride.”
—Bruce Vilanch

“Witty and whimsical, this book is a deep meditation on the divine feminine, a love letter to lovers of movies and memories. It’s a stirring, poetic memoir of a life remarkably lived and still living.”
—Margaret Cho
 
“The artistry of Charles Busch has no equal in the modern theater, with his genuine reverence for the women who inspire him. This memoir left me doubled over with laughter and choking back tears—sometimes on the same page.”
—Armistead Maupin

Editorial Reviews

★ 07/01/2023

Busch, a prolific and award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and actor, has written an absolutely captivating memoir. A born raconteur, Busch spins enthralling tales into short, buoyant chapters. Occasionally the chronological storytelling is interrupted with flash-forward chapters, which sweep readers off to dine with Claudette Colbert, interview Liza Minnelli, ghostwrite for Joan Rivers, or run into Kim Novak at an event. After the death of his mother, the author was taken under the wing of his Aunt Lil who moved him into her Manhattan apartment and enrolled him in an arts high school. Later, Busch found his artistic voice by writing his own plays and casting himself as the lead woman. His play Vampire Lesbians of Sodom ran for five years and brought him acclaim; two other plays—Psycho Beach Party and Die, Mommie, Die!—were later adapted for the screen with Busch as their leading lady. He writes with great fondness about his Tony-nominated hit, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, and with honesty about his "miserable" experience working on the Broadway flop Taboo, produced by Rosie O'Donnell and starring Boy George. VERDICT This joyful, upbeat, and witty memoir will likely capture the hearts of theater and movie buffs.—Kevin Howell

Library Journal