Men wouldn't play girlie roles if they didn't like the idea
of exploring femininity. These weren't
the ONLY scripts lying around for them! No, they chose these parts because
they wanted to imagine what it's like to
be a woman, at least for a little while. That's a natural
curiosity, as far as I'm concerned, kitties! Now let me list
some of my favorite "TV" stars...
Jamie Farr is a very nice man,
and his contribution to cross-dressing,
M*A*S*H's Cpl. Klinger, was both funny and realistic. Alot of CD's don't
"look like women." Klinger didn't. In one episode he had to wear
"civvies" and broke out in a rash. So he began to wear frills
under his uniform and immediately felt better. Sure, at first cross-dressing was just
"a dodge" to get out of the Army. But soon, nobody raised an eyebrow
as Klinger sauntered around in his skirts. He clearly LIKED what he was
doing.
I think M*A*S*H must have had "one of us" writing for it. Remember
the episode where Radar O'Reilly talked about a pretty nurse getting a Frederick's
package with undies so sexy "you don't need a girl?" How about
when Margaret Houlihan complained that somebody was sneaking into her tent
and trying on her underwear?? Ohhh...it was YOU??
Milton Berle is well known for both garish and realistic drag appearances.
Well known for having one of the biggest penises in show
business, well known as a ladies man, he nevertheless clearly enjoyed BEING
a lady. Auntie Miltie made drag seem like a fun thing to do.
Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis were great in "Some Like It Hot."
Not just because it was a great script and they looked realistic. They definitely portrayed drag as a pleasant pastime.
Jack Lemmon's character only briefly groused about being
in drag��soon he was very preoccupied with looking "her" best.
Don't you think in that train sequence he wanted to have "lez"
sex with Marilyn Monroe??
And I don't think there's ANYONE who has seen that movie that doesn't believe
Tony Curtis loved being SO PRETTY. Tony Curtis was very, very convincing!
I already mentioned Patrick Swayze. What I especially like is that he's a very macho man and looks it. You wouldn't think he had much of a feminine side, or that he could transform himself so well! But he did, and he did it very nicely! Voila:
The Monty Python stars were very funny, but also very realistic. I liked
the way they played housewives. Graham Chapman often liked to dress up and
play comical vamps. They all seemed to enjoy exploring these female characters,
and their fans felt it was hilarious and also hip. Nobody seemed to get
too bent about these men appearing in drag so often.
Kids in the Hall, a Canadian pseudo-Python group, also enjoyed dress-up,
and they seemed to have a lot of female fans who appreciated this. Python
was more of a "guy thing," but I think the Kids had a lot of females
following them around. Oh those Kids! 
The latest transvestite to arrive is "Harriet," played by Anthony Tyler Quinn. Yes, his mom named him after Anthony Quinn. He was on "Boy Meets World," "Air Wolf" and others before 1998's Fox-TV sitcom "Ask Harriet." He's married to his high school sweetheart, and has a daughter. And his drag is very Patrick Swayze in "To Wong Foo..." I love it every time the TV show is advertised in "TV Guide" and everyone sees HARRIET! It's a nice look, a man in makeup....
CHICK-LIST CHECK-LIST
This list is not complete. I've just listed some of my favorites - stars
who either looked very good in drag, or who were very funny. (Sometimes
both at the same time).
I could've added some television appearanes, such as Lori Shannon playing
a drag star in an episode of "All in the Family," or Harvey Korman looking quite realistic
in one of many a "Carol Burnett" sketch, but it's so hard for
people to find individual TV shows on videotape. Ooh! I nearly forgot to add my picture of...
Paul Lynde! Oh, TV's on TV are hard to find. As it is, most of these
movies with TV scenes aren't in the average video rental store either...
Jean Arliss in "Homicidal" (villainess, but fascinating!)
Jim Bailey in "Penitentiary III"
Lionel Barrymore "The Devil Doll"
Jean Paul Belmondo "Up to His Ears"
Helmut Berger "The Damned"
Tony Bill in "Soldier in the Rain"
Jeff Bridges in "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot"
George Stanford Brown "Stir Crazy"
Joe E. Brown "Shut My Big Mouth"
Michael Caine in "Dressed to Kill" (but a villainess? Boo!)
Art Carney in "Izzy and Moe" (made for TV, ahem, movie)
James Cagney "Man of a Thousand Faces"
Eddie Cantor "Palmy Days"
T.K. Carter in "He's My Girl"
Lon Chaney "The Unholy Three"
Charles Chaplin "A Woman"
Coccinelle in "It's a Go Go Go World"
Lou Costello "Lost in a Harem"
Bing Crosby "High Time"
Tim Curry "Rocky Horror Picture Show"
Tony Curtis "Some Like it Hot"
Candy Darling in "Flesh" by Andy Warhol
Dom DeLuise in "Haunted Honeymoon"
Divine in "Hairspray" and "Lust in the Dust" (two of the cutest of her many films)
Brian Deacon in "The Triple Echo"
Hector Elizondo in "Young Doctors in Love"
Peter Falk in "Happy New Year" (as an old lady)
Antonio Fargas, drag queen working in a "Car Wash"
Jack Gilford in "Funny Thing Happened...Forum"
Cary Grant in "I Was a Male War Bride" and so cute in the nightgown in "Bringing up Baby"
Charles Gray (as Blofeld) in "Diamonds are Forever"
Leo Gorcey & Huntz Hall "Hold That Line"
Michael Greer "Fortune and Men's Eyes"
Arsenio Hall in "Coming to America"
John Hansen in "The Christine Jorgensen Story"
Oliver Hardy "Twice Two"
Lou Jacobi as a typical TV who feels pretty even with a mustache on, in "Everything You Always Wanted To Know about Sex But Were Afraid to Ask"
T.C. Jones, the drag legend, in Jayne Mansfield's "Promises Promises"
Robert Klein in Bette Davis drag "Nobody's Perfect"
Burt Lancaster "The Crimson Pirate"
Danny LaRue, British drag star in "Our Miss Fred"
Stan Laurel "Jitterbugs" and "Twice Two"
John Leguizamo as Chi Chi in "To Wong Foo...Julie Newmar"
Jack Lemmon "Pepe" and "Some Like it Hot"
Jerry Lewis "Three on a Couch"
John Lithgow, a TS in "World According to Garp"
Cleavon Little in "High Risk"
Arthur Lucan is "Old Mother Riley"
Paul Lynde "Glass Bottom Boat"
Christopher Morley in "Freebie and the Bean" and "Bachelor Party"
Steve Martin in "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid"
Tim Moore in the 40's all-black musical "Boy What a Girl"
Christopher Plummer "The Silent Partner"
Roman Polanski wonders if he's "pwegnant" in "The Tenant"
Robert Preston in "Victor/Victoria"
Richard Pryor in "Jo Jo Dancer"
Tony Randall as Medusa in "Seven Faces of Dr. Lao"
Mickey Rooney "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"
Craig Russell mimics celebs in "Outrageous"
George Sanders "The Kremlin Letter"
Peter Sellers "The Mouse that Roared"
Michel Serrault in "La Cage Au Folles" I, II, and III
Dick Shawn in "Angel"
Red Skelton in a tu-tu for "Bathing Beauty"
Wesley Snipes "To Wong Foo...Julie Newmar"
Rod Steiger "No Way to Treat a Lady"
Patrick Swayze "To Wong Foo...Julie Newmar"
Three Stooges "Rhythm and Weep"
Robert Vaughn in corset, stockings and heels for "S.O.B."
Robin Williams "Mrs. Doubtfire"
Norman Wisdom "A Stitch in Time"
Ed Wood directs himself in "Glen or Glenda?"
Holly Woodlawn in "Trash"
AND SOME OTHER FILMS WITH TV MOMENTS TO WATCH FOR...
AND JUSTICE FOR ALL (1979)
I just love it when Pacino says of a TV, "it makes him happy." Yes, yes, yes!
AUNTIE (1986)
"Auntie" is a young man who runs a bordello!
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY (1988)
"Zette" appears at a party.
CABARET (1972)
Ooh, decadence! Shameful. Mmmmmm.
DREAM BOYS REVUE (1985)
A female impersonators talent contest, hosted by Lyle Waggoner and Ruth Buzzi.
DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE (1972)
All right, Ralph Bates changes into Martine Beswick instead of doing drag. But wouldn't YOU want to change into Martine?
HOLLYWOOD VICE SQUAD (1986)
There's a moment with a TV hooker.
I LOVE YOU ALICE B. TOKLAS (1969)
When Peter Sellers and Leigh Taylor Young go shopping a boutique, there's a very straight guy checking himself out in a dress
I WANNA BE A BEAUTY QUEEN (1979)
A contest with Divine making a special appearance.
LET ME DIE A WOMAN (1979)
Sex change pseudo-documentary. I missed this one. Any good?
THE LONGEST YARD (1974)
Drag cheerleaders!
MENAGE A TROIS (1987)
So much confusion, even Gerard Depardieu dons drag
THE MORNING AFTER (1986)
Jane Fonda visits Gypsy the Drag Queen
A NEW LIFE, A (1988)
Alan Alda meets a TV in one scene.
NIGHT AT LA CAGE (1985)
Hosted by Milton Berle
PERSONAL SERVICES (1987)
British film with where a"kinky bordello" includes "decadent TV's"
THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT (1984)
Includes a jailhouse scene with a TV
POLICE ACADEMY 5 (1988)
The cops encounter a TV
PRIVATES ON PARADE (1984)
About a British traveling show, led by a drag queen >BR>
PRIVATE POPSICLE (1982)
Boys prankishly dress up in one scene.
PRIVATE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS (1983)
Some boys dress up to get closer to those girls!
THE PRODUCERS (1968)
Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder visit a drag-wearing producer
PSYCHO (1960)
At the end of the film, Simon Oakland, gives that lecturing theory about transvestites. Duhhh, huh?
THE QUEEN (1969)
Pioneering documentary about a drag competition
RAW DEAL (1986)
Ahhhnold takes his Swarzenegging into a drag bar
RENT A COP (1988)
TV's are in a nightclub scene along with Liza Minnelli
THE ROSE (1979)
Bette Midler meets up with drag queens briefly.
SECOND BEST SECRET AGENT (1965)
He encounters a sultry Asian TV
SECOND SERVE (1987)
The Dr. Renee Richards "made for TV" story with Vanessa Redgrave
TAXI ZUM KLO (1982)
Gays and drag queens in West Germany
TURNABOUT (1939)
Gender-bending early comedy with a married couple switching personalities.
Goodness, I looked ALL OVER the local BLOCKBUSTER for some of the videos I listed!
the world of rock music is SO full of gender-benders and provocative boys in mascara...from Alice Cooper to that silly Greenday guy...but here are two album covers of note...typical of crossdressers just "trying on stuff" at home...
