Outrageous Misfits

4.5 Stars.
Long before the fabulous Ru-Paul brought men in drag into our living room with his colourful Grammy-winning TV show, Canadas own outrageous Craig Russell moved his act from Torontos gay bars to some of the worlds leading concert halls. In 1977 he starred in the movie Outrageous partly based on the time he roomed with the author, Margaret Gibson, a friend who suffered from schizophrenia. The Berlin Film Festival awarded him best actor for his role in this critically acclaimed movie.

In his early days, Craig worked as a hairdresser. While still a teenager he lived with his idol Mae West, employed as her secretary. He rejected the label drag queen and referred to himself as a female impersonator. His celebrity impressions included Mae West, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Bette Davis, Tallulah Bankhead and Peggy Lee, stars whom he adored. He toured Canada, the USA, Germany, Holland and Sydney, Australia in the 1970s with his very popular stage show. His show was first-class entertainment. He was able to duplicate not only the appearances and gestures but remarkably the singing voices of the female stars he adored. He brought humour to his act.

I wanted to read this book because I saw Craig Russells entertaining performance on stage in the late 1970s and also saw his movie, Outrageous. I knew nothing about his professional and personal life. The authors extensive research and numerous interviews is evident in this comprehensive biography. Craig was very insecure when not on stage adopting the personas of his ladies. He was diagnosed as manic-depressive. His destructive manic episodes alienated him from close friends and professional contacts. He did not feel loved for himself, but only when impersonating celebrities and receiving applause. Going through episodes of depression, he started relying heavily on liquor and cocaine. Along with his mental illness, his self-destructive behaviour resulted in disastrous stage shows in NYC’s Carnegie Hall, in California, and Amsterdam which alienated managers and audiences. His career went into rapid decline after his return from Europe.

In 1987 it was decided that a sequel to the successful movie, Outrageous, would help him in making a comeback. Due to some manic episodes followed by states of depression, drinking and illegal drug use, producers and directors found working with him to be almost impossible. They hired handlers to keep watch on him. The movie was finally released to mainly hostile reviews and was not successful. An even more outrageous drag queen, the often vulgar 320 pound Devine, had just acted in the mainstream Hairspray motion picture, and younger audiences were unfamiliar with the stars portrayed by Craig. They wanted to see impressions of their current singing idols.

Broke and despondent he moved into a shabby apartment with two sleazy men. He was on welfare and suspected of smoking crack and sniffing glue.

Lori Russell Eadie was a creative teenager who was obsessed with movies, stage and celebrities. Her obsession and love centred around Craig in particular. She actively stalked him and once having met him devoted all her devotion and energy into making him happy. He did not return her romantic love which he found stifling, but rather liked her undivided attention. She had been staying with him in Europe, but he got sick of her constant clinging and made her go back to Canada. After his return from Europe, he finally married her. She put up with his explosive anger and his numerous male companions and always forgave him. He made her leave their apartment, insisting on a divorce. She only pretended to get one and found employment backstage at major theatre productions.

When he was at his lowest level she brought him food, finally persuading him to move into her nicer apartment. She discovered he was dying of AIDS, and lived and cared for him until his death. This was a tragic tale going from the heights of superstardom to the lowest depths of despair. I believe the book could have been shorter without minimizing its information and impact. I would have liked to see more pictures added to those already included.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for this interesting biography which discusses out the danger of stardom on those whose fragile egos are little prepared for it.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review of the story.

Living life to its fullest is the only way to describe e these two people.

Their lives were filled with drama and joy. The history of the time they came to maturity is clearly presented in this book.

An illuminating read.

I was a great fan of Craig Russell’s work, this book made interesting reading. A great talent but had many demons. Rest in Peace Craig Eadie.

Amazing! Such a detailed account of a Canadian Icon of Entertainment.

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