Alongside the lovely Björk (as featured here yesterday), today's birthday celebrants are the usual mixed bag, including Goldie Hawn, Voltaire, Eleanor Powell, Beryl Bainbridge, Ingrid Pitt, Dr. John, Lorna Luft, Juliet Mills, Coleman Hawkins, Tina Brown, Harold Nicolson, Liza Tarbuck, René Magritte, Alex James of Blur - and...
...that ultimate "triumph of art over nature", Miss Amanda Lepore!
Indeed.
Facts:
- She was born "Armand" to an Italian-German-American family in rural New Jersey state (imagine!).
- At the age of 17, through a legal loophole, Lepore married a male bookstore owner.
- She began hormone therapy as a young teen, and transitioned via surgery at age 19.
- Her emergence as a "face" on the "Club Kids" scene in New York in the 1990s was helped when she was "discovered" (working as a dominatrix at an S&M club) by photographer David LaChapelle, whose work now adorns many notable galleries, and who produced music videos for the likes of Elton John, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Amy Winehouse and J-Lo.
- Over the years she has collaborated with numerous artists and (some of our fave) performers such as Cazwell, Joey Arias, Ana Matronic, Grace Jones, Tiga, Cyndi Lauper and Lady Bunny.
Many happy returns, Amanda Lepore (born 21st November 1967)
