Out Spotlight

Today's Out Spotlight is an American comedian, actress, and jazz musician She is "the first openly gay comic to break the late-night talk-show barrier" with her 1993 appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show. Today's Out Spotlight Lea DeLaria.

Lea DeLaria was born May 23, 1958 in Belleville, Illinois the daughter of Jerry, a homemaker, and Robert DeLaria, a jazz pianist and social worker. She attended kindergarten through 8th grade at St Mary's Elementary School in Belleville, and has referenced her Catholic upbringing in her performances.

DeLaria has performed stand-up comedy for over 25 years and is a prominent figure in the world of LGBT comedy. She began her career billing herself as "That F#*king Dyke"; she states "I called myself that because I would walk down the street and people would yell (it) at me. But after two years of performing I would walk down the street and people would yell (it) at me and I wouldn't know if they were a fan or not!"

Of her watershed 1993 appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show, as the first openly gay comic to appear on a late-night talk-show, she said "It's the 1990s ... It's hip to be queer, and I'm a bi-i-i-i-ig dyke!" In December 1993 she hosted Comedy Central's Out There, the first all-gay stand-up comedy special.

She is also known for her touring "musical comedy about perverts," Dos Lesbos (1987–1989) as well as Girl Friday, a comedy she conceived, wrote, directed and starred in, and which won the 1989 Golden Gull for Best Comedy Group in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

DeLaria has released two CD recordings of her comedy, Bulldyke in a China Shop (1994) and Box Lunch (1997). She has also written a humorous book entitled Lea's Book of Rules for the World.

She also appeared as Jane in the 1998 Off Broadway production of Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, a "a gay retelling of the Bible." She received critical acclaim for her "showstopping" performance as Hildy Esterhazy in the 1998 Broadway revival of On the Town. She also played Eddie and Dr. Scott in the 2000 Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show, and can be heard on the cast recording.

She is not limited to the stage but added the screen as well and her filmography includes Edge of Seventeen and The First Wives Club.

DeLaria integrates musical performance into her stand-up comedy, focusing on traditional and modern be-bop jazz and has even said at her shows "It is my personal goal to bring be-bop jazz back into the gay and lesbian community." In 2001 she released a CD of jazz standards called Play It Cool. This was followed by the album Double Standards in 2003, and by The Very Best of Lea DeLaria in 2008.

In 2001, DeLaria was the voice of Helga Phugly on the short-lived, animated sitcom, The Oblongs. In 1999 DeLaria played the recurring role of Madame Delphina on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, returning in 2008 as both Delphina and Professor Delbert Fina. She continues to portray Delphina on a recurring basis as of 2011.

In 2008, Warner Records released The Live Smoke Sessions, DeLaria's first recording focused on "timeless pop standards" such as "Down With Love," "Night and Day," "Love Me or Leave Me" and "Come Rain or Come Shine." She noted, "I styled this CD on the old school live recordings ... It is my hope that this CD will take you back to 1948 and the Village Vanguard. So please let me invite you to mix a cocktail and enjoy a smoke while you sit back and soak up the swing."

In November 2008, DeLaria completed a tour of Australia, playing Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. She also frequently collaborates with comedian Maggie Cassella, most notably on an annual Christmas cabaret show in Toronto, Ontario which also sometimes tours to several other Canadian and US cities.

In July 2010, DeLaria's version of "All That Jazz" was used on So You Think You Can Dance.


In 2013, she joined the cast of the hit Netflix Original show Orange Is the New Black as prison inmate Carrie 'Big Boo' Black.