Craig Russell born 10 January 1948 (d. 1990)Russell Craig Eadie, known by his stage name of Craig Russell, was a Canadian female impersonator.
His impersonations included Carol Channing, Bette Davis, Mae West, Barbra Streisand, Tallulah Bankhead, Marlene Dietrich, Bette Midler, Anita Bryant, Peggy Lee and Judy Garland. While performing, he always spoke and sang in the voices of the celebrities he was impersonating.
His three-octave vocal range was such that his impersonations could do full justice to vocal talents such as Streisand, and he could even perform male-female duets - such as Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong - with both voices in the correct pitch and key.As a female impersonator, Russell attempted genuine verisimilitude, but he also added a great deal of his own personality and comic sensibility.
He was one of the last of the school that actually sang or spoke live in the voices of the ladies he impersonated.
As a teenager, Russell became president of Mae West's fan club, and briefly worked and lived in Los Angeles as West's secretary. He eventually returned to Toronto, where he moved in with Margaret Gibson and worked as a hairdresser while pursuing his career as a stage performer. By 1971, he was a regular performer in Toronto gay clubs and had a burgeoning international following.
Russell fathered one child, a daughter, who was born in 1973 in Toronto. Father and daughter developed a relationship in the years prior to his death.
In 1977, Russell starred in the film Outrageous!, based on a short story written by Gibson about their time as roommates; one of the first North American films with a gay theme to receive widespead distribution.
After Russell's success in Outrageous!, he was able to play much larger and more prestigious venues than he had previously. He performed in Las Vegas, Hollywood, Berlin, London, and Paris. He even had a one-man, off-Broadway show entitled A Man and His Women (1977).
But at the peak of his success, Russell became unable to cope with the pressures of fame. His substance abuse and psychological problems increasingly affected his performances and his career suffered.
Although he publicly identified as gay rather than bisexual, Russell married his close friend Lori Jenkins in 1982.
In 1987, Russell starred in the sequel to Outrageous!, appropriately titled Too Outrageous!
Russell remained married to Lori until his death in 1990 of a stroke related to complications from AIDS.
Craig was cremated and laid to rest in Port Perry, Ontario.