RuPaul Biography

RuPaul Andre Charles shortly named RuPaul is an American drag queen, actor, author, singer, model, and TV personality who is famous for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series RuPaul’s Drag Race for which he has received several accolades, including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, three GLAAD Media Awards, a Critics’ Choice Television Award, two Billboard Music Awards, and a Tony Award. The show was successful internationally, with several international variants of the show being made, such as RuPaul’s Drag Race UK and Canada’s Drag Race. This has also inspired several spin-offs of the main show, including RuPaul’s Drag U, RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, and RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race. He is also featured as a host on other reality television series such as Skin Wars, Good Work, and Gay for Play Game Show Starring RuPaul. He achieved international fame as a drag queen with the release of his debut single, “Supermodel (You Better Work)”, which was included on his debut studio album Supermodel of the World (1993). He has released fourteen studio albums to date. As an actor, he has made appearances in films such as Crooklyn (1994), The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), But I’m a Cheerleader (1999), television shows such as Girlboss (2017), Broad City (2017), and Grace and Frankie (2019). He created and starred in his own Netflix original television series AJ and the Queen (2020). As an author, he has also published three books: Lettin’ It All Hang Out (1995), Workin’ It! RuPaul’s Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style (2010), and GuRu (2018). 

What is RuPaul Known For?

• Being an American drag queen, television judge, musician, and model.
• For his debut single, Supermodel (You Better Work), which brought him international fame and critical acclaim.
• Being America’s most commercially successful Drag Queen.

What is RuPaul’s Real Name?

RuPaul was born on November 17, 1960, in San Diego, California, USA. His real name is RuPaul Andre Charles. His parents were both from Louisiana. He was named by his mother; “Ru” came from roux, the term for the base of gumbo and other creole stews and soups. When his parents divorced in 1967, he and his three sisters lived with their mother, a practicing Seventh-day Adventist. He was raised in the Catholic faith. He holds American nationality and his ethnicity is multiracial as he has African-American ancestry on his father’s side and is of African, French, and Swiss-German descent on his mother’s side. His siblings are Renetta (Older Sister), Renae Charles (Older Sister), and Rozy Charles (Younger Sister). 

About his education, he attended Patrick Henry High school. He then studied performing arts at North Atlanta High School in Atlanta, Georgia with his sister, Renetta. 

RuPaul Career Timeline

• Initially, RuPaul struggled as a musician and filmmaker during the 1980s. He worked at Atlanta’s famed Plaza Theatre.
• He debuted on an Atlanta public access variety show called The American Music Show in 1982. 
• Next, he participated in underground cinema, helping create the low-budget film Star Booty and an album by the same name. 
• After that, he formed his own band named Wee Wee Pole and began performing around Atlanta.
• Also, he performed as a backup singer to Glen Meadmore along with drag queen Vaginal Davis
• His first prominent national exposure came in 1989 dancing as an extra in the video for “Love Shack” by The B-52’s. 
• He appeared for many years at the annual Wigstock drag festival and appeared in the documentary Wigstock: The Movie.
• He released his debut album, “Supermodel of the World” in 1993. 
• Since then, he has released 10 other studio albums including “Foxy Lady”, “Ho Ho Ho”, “Red Hot”, “Champion”, “Glamazon”, “American”, “Butch Queen”, “Slay Belles”, “Realness”, “Born Naked”, “Essential, Vol. 2”, and among others.
• Apart from his career in music, Charles has also appeared in several movies and television series.
• He landed a talk show of his own on VH1 called The RuPaul Show in 1996. 
• In mid-2008, RuPaul began producing RuPaul’s Drag Race, a reality television game show.
• He also made his appearances on The Rosie Show and The Chew. 
• In the fall of 2012, the spin-off RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars premiered after a large fan demand.
• On April 9, 2014, RuPaul and Michelle Visage released the first episode of their podcast, RuPaul: What’s the Tee? with Michelle Visage.

• He joined the reality competition show Skin Wars acting as a judge in August 2014. 
• In April 2015, he launched and began hosting a new show, Good Work. 
• In January 2016, it was announced RuPaul would present a new game show for Logo TV called Gay for Play Game Show Starring RuPaul which premiered on April 11, 2016, after RuPaul’s Drag Race. 
• In June 2019, a daytime talk show titled “RuPaul” premiered. 
• In late 2019, the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK was released on BBC3. It was renewed for a second season, which was released in 2021. 
• He then created and starred in the Netflix drama-comedy show “AJ and the Queen” as a drag queen touring the country with an unlikely young sidekick, which was released on January 10, 2020. Netflix later announced that the series had been canceled. 
• He also made an appearance in the premiere episode of Canada’s Drag Race.
• He guest hosted two episodes of the talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! in August 2021. 
• He also did voice work in Amphibia portraying the FBI agent Mr. X.
• He will be hosting a revival of the game show “Lingo” for CBS in 2022.

Awards and Achievements

• Two Times Billboard Music Awards in 1993
• Three times Canadian Screen Awards in the years 2021 and 2022
• Six Times Critics’ Choice Real TV Awards in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022
• Critics’ Choice Television Awards in 2018
• Drama League Awards in 2022
• EWwy Awards in 2013
• GLAAD Media Awards in 2010 and 2022
• Inducted Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018
• MTV Movie & TV Awards in 2017, 2021, 2022
• NewNowNext Awards in 2010
• Eleven Times Primetime Emmy Awards in 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
• Four Times Producers Guild of America Awards in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022
• Tony Awards in 2022

How much is RuPaul’s Net Worth?

RuPaul is a drag queen, television judge, musician, and model whose net worth is estimated to have $65 million as of 2022. He is considered to be the most famous drag queen ever, and in 2017 he was included in the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. He has endorsed various brands like Old Navy Tech Vests (1999) (TV Commercial), MAC cosmetics (Print Adverts), Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur (1996) (Print Adverts), and WebEx (TV Commercial). He owns a mansion in Beverley Hills which is worth $13.8 million. Also, he has an apartment in New York and a condo in West Hollywood, California. An average salary of a drag queen is $60K. His entire fortune has come from the film and television industries. He is living a luxurious lifestyle at present. He is also fond of luxurious cars. He has been spotted while driving his amazing cars such as 1979 Volvo, Lexus 4X4, and more. 

Who is RuPaul’s Husband?

RuPaul is a married man to his husband/partner, Georges LeBar. Professional, his spouse is an Australian painter. The duo started dating in 1994. The couple met at a nightclub in New York City. The pair then decided to take the relationship a step forward and later got married in January 2017. The couple secretly tied the knot. As per an article in March 2017, RuPaul has stated that LeBar owns a farm in Wyoming and does not care much about the show business. Their love bond is going stronger with the passage of time. His sexual orientation is gay. 

Source: @popsugar

How tall is RuPaul?

RuPaul has a tall height of 6 feet 4 inches or 1.93 m. His bodyweight is around 78 kg. He is bald and his eye color is light brown. He mostly wears ‘blonde’ wigs for his performances. He has an oval facial structure and he often wears glasses.