Before he joined the Gay Liberation Front and devoted himself to campaigning and fighting for gay rights, Bette had a flourishing acting career. He trained at the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama, and from there landed a part at London's Old Vic Theatre. From then, as you'll see in the film, he had a busy stage career and was starting to pick up roles in TV shows such as the Avengers, The Saint and The Prisoner.
Bette virtually stopped acting during the GLF and while he lived in the drag commune in Notting Hill. When he left the commune he found himself at a low ebb until a friend - Mair Davies - suggested he go and see a fantastic theatre group from New York called the Hot Peaches.
Run by Jimmy Camicia The Hot Peaches combined radical drag with politically charged performance. For Bette, the star of the show was Java:
I hope Jimmy won't mind but here's a link to a video of Java performing Drag Queen.
Bette virtually stopped acting during the GLF and while he lived in the drag commune in Notting Hill. When he left the commune he found himself at a low ebb until a friend - Mair Davies - suggested he go and see a fantastic theatre group from New York called the Hot Peaches.
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| The Hot Peaches - from personal archive of Lavinia Co-op |
Run by Jimmy Camicia The Hot Peaches combined radical drag with politically charged performance. For Bette, the star of the show was Java:
"They had this tall black queen called Java who sang Drag Queen which is a marvellous song about being a drag queen, And its an old Blues song called ‘Beale Street Mama’ which was sung by Bessie Smith. And they’d changed the words. It was a wonderful song. She had this glorious black voice. She was about 6’2” and all she wore was a boob-tube and these very long legs, and these great big shoes like this. So she was coming on 7ft tall really. It was astonishing. And she meant that song. .... And I thought ‘That’s what I’ve been looking for!"
I hope Jimmy won't mind but here's a link to a video of Java performing Drag Queen.
