Darcelle XV

Cole was born in 1930 and raised in the Linnton neighborhood and served in the United States Armed Forces, and was discharged after the during Korean War in the late 1950s, after which he lived a "conventional" life in southeast Portland with his wife and two children. Funds he received from the military helped Cole start new business ventures.

He first purchased a coffeehouse called Caffé Espresso, which later relocated and was expanded to include a basement jazz club called Studio A. In 1967, due to urban renewal Cole purchased a tavern in northwest Portland called Demas, which became Darcelle XV Showplace.

Cole first wore a woman's dress at age 37. By 1969, he had developed the "alter ego" Darcelle and came out as gay. He left his wife and began a relationship with his artistic director Roxy Neuhardt, although they remained legally married, his relationship with his children was strained. During the 1970s, the Showplace became a popular destination for cabaret and drag performance.

In 1999, Darcelle became the oldest female impersonator on the West Coast, after the closing of San Francisco's drag venue Finocchio's Club.

In 2010, Darcelle served as grand marshal of the Portland Rose Festival's Starlight Parade and received the city's Spirit of Portland Award. That same year, Cole and Sharon Knorr published his memoir, Just Call Me Darcelle; Knorr also served as director of Cole's 2010 one-person show of the same name.

During his childhood, where he was described as a shy, "four-eyed sissy boy".[3] Cole was discharged from the military in the late 1950s following the Korean War,[3][2] Cole worked at a Fred Meyer store and described himself as having "a crew cut and horn-rimmed glasses".[2]

Darcelle

Entrance to Darcelle XV Showplace

Cole, who had an interest in acting and had worked at Portland Civic Theater, developed his "alter ego" Darcelle and came out as gay.[2] The name "Darcelle" honors French actress and singer Denise Darcel.

Darcelle wore false eyelashes, jewelry, and shiny clothing. Cole has described Darcelle's persona as having "sequins on the eyelids, lots of feathers, big hair, big jewels, and lots of wisecracks".[3] Avoiding an Oregon law that prohibited the use of more than one instrument during performances, entertainers at Darcelle XV Showplace lip-synched. The business was fined after Neuhardt performed a "ballet-like adagio" with another man.[2]

Darcelle and the Showplace have become part of Portland's culture over the years. Darcelle attends many social functions throughout the city. In 2011, she served as grand marshal of the Portland Rose Festival's Starlight Parade and received the city's Spirit of Portland Award.[3][2] That same year, Cole and Sharon Knorr published his memoir, Just Call Me Darcelle.[3] The book recalls Cole's life, including his childhood, military service, and experiences as Darcelle. Cole also shared stories of Portland's culture, from his visit to Old Town Chinatown with his mother in the 1930s, to Magic Garden as a lesbian club in the 1960s, to his description of the Hoyt Hotel.

Darcelle XV Showplace has hosted the longest-running drag show on the West Coast. In 2011, Willamette Week's Kelly Clarke called Darcelle the "unofficial welcome wagon" to Portland for forty years.[3] She wrote that Just Call Me Darcelle reads blandly, "like a plainspeak transcription", but also acknowledged the value of his recollections of Portland culture, spanning more than 75 years.[3] In her review of Cole's memoir, Clarke described him as "an energetic businessman whose desire for a life less ordinary catapulted him from a job at Fred Meyer to become the proprietor of a counterculture coffee shop, an after-hours jazz club, a rough-'n'-ready 'dyke bar' and, finally, a nationally known drag revue, without ever leaving Portland.[3]

Darcelle XV was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest drag queen in 2016, at the then age of 85 years and 273 days.[1]

• La Femme Magnifique International Pageant
• List of LGBT people from Portland, Oregon
• Michelle DuBarry
• List of drag queens

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Darcelle XV.

• Darcelle XV at IMDb
• http://www.opb.org/television/programs/oregonexperience/segment/darcelle-xv/