Craig Russell

Craig Russell Eadie was a major female impersonator in the 1970s and 1980s. He was considered to be one of the last of the “old school” that actually sang or spoke in the voices of the stars he impersonated, as opposed to today`s habit of lip-syncing to records, tapes or CDs. He began mimicking people at age five to amuse his family. In his early teens he was pretty much a loner, but later he became president of the Mae West International Fan Club and soon moved to Los Angeles to work for the aging star as her secretary-companion. He eventually came back to Toronto and by 1971 he had shortened his name to Craig Russell. He took his act into the early gay clubs of Toronto and went on to become a popular attraction at drag venues throughout North America. His cast of characters included Bette Davis, Carol Channing, Janis Joplin, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Peggy Lee, and Mae West. Craig Russell was quite open about being gay himself, yet he married one of his female fans, Lori Jenkins, in 1982. During his last years he battled AIDS and died of an AIDS-related stroke on October 30, 1990.