Carter, Lynne

Entertainer, actor, and female impersonator Lynne Carter (ca.1924-1985) was a prominent drag performer who stared in a long-running show with the Jewel Box Review in the 1950s and 1960s. Carter was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and served in the United States Navy during World War II. He began his performance career in 1947 in a Chicago nightclub where he met Pearl Bailey who became an early supporter of his act. Carter typically performed in clubs and small theaters, primarily on the East and West coasts. He worked with big bands (usually 15 musicians), small ensembles, and with a solo pianist, as well as other dancer groups, such as the Jewel Box Review Chorus Boys and the Four Cartiers. He impersonated many famous actresses and singers including Pearl Bailey, Josephine Baker, Tallulah Bankhead, Fanny Brice, Carol Channing, Cher, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Phyllis Diller, Hermione Gingold, Hildegarde, Eartha Kit, Ethel Merman, Barbara Streisand, Kay Thompson, and Mae West. He also created several original characters. Carter recorded one album entitled She's a He in 1957 on Fiesta Records. He appeared on the Merv Griffen and Mike Douglas TV Shows (1960s), in the Fun City Review (1968), and in the film The Man from O.R.G.Y. (1970). In 1971 Carter became the first female impersonator to perform at Carnegie Hall. Carter's final performances were at the St. Regis-Sheraton Hotel in New York City in 1984. After suffering declining health caused by multiple heart attacks and AIDS related complications, Carter died of pneumonia in Manhattan in 1985.

References: Coleman, Bud. "Carter, Lynne." In The Gay and Lesbian Theatrical Legacy, edited by Billy J. Harbin, Kim Marra, and Robert A. Schanke. University of Michigan, 2005.

Veasey, Jack. "Impersonation a 'labor of love' for Lynne Carter." Philadelphia Gay News, December 15, 1978.

From the guide to the Lynne Carter collection, 1950s-1975, 1957-1972, (The New York Public Library. Music Division.)