Superstar in a Housedress: The Life and Legend of Jackie Curtis Read Online Free

(unsuccessfully) for a job. His writes friends that his stepmother is uncomfortable with his presence.
    September 1977 – Jackie goes to LA and stays with friends while trying to land parts in films or television shows.
    January 1978 – Jackie returns to New York City, moving back in with his grandmother Slugger Ann.
    May 14, 1978 – Jackie divorces Peter Groby.
    August 15, 1978 – Jackie’s mother, Jenevive Uglialoro Holder Tarsio, dies of cervical cancer.
    December 8, 1978 – Jackie Curtis visits Andy Warhol. Curtis had called a week in advance to make an appointment and was supposed to bring one other person. Jackie arrives with an entourage of fifteen people, including two photographers.
    August 1979 – The book, The Unmuzzled Ox: The Poets’ Encyclopedia is published. The longest poem (8 pages long) in the book is ‘B-Girls’ by Jackie Curtis. The poem is based on the customers who hung out at Jackie’s grandmother’s bar – ‘Slugger Ann’s’ – located on the lower east side of New York.
    October and November 1979 – Jackie announces his return to drag and performs Friday and Saturday night shows at Slugger Ann’s. Jackie wears Slugger’s wedding dress and sings an eclectic mix of songs including “Everyone’s Going to the Moon,” “I Enjoy Being a Girl” and an autobiographical number “A Star is (Still) Born.”
    Spring 1980 – Jackie plays Mrs. X in Nick Markovich’s play, Tyrone X .
    July 4, 1980 – Jackie’s grandmother Slugger Ann, Anna Marino Uglialoro Verra, dies of blood disease.
    July 23, 1980 – Jackie marries Kevin McPhee.
    September 14, 1981 – Jackie divorces Kevin McPhee.
    June 1983 – Jackie spends part of the summer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with Craig Highberger. They videotape five of Curtis’s poems including “B Girls,” and shoot lots of photographs. Jackie is drinking a fifth of vodka every day or two. Craig leaves for work one morning as Jackie begins watching a videotape of Breakfast at Tiffany’s . When Craig returns nine hours later Curtis is watching the film – for the 5th time in a row.
    April 21, 1983 – I Died Yesterday a play by Nick Markovich premieres at La Mama starring Jackie Curtis as Frances Farmer. The show receives favorable reviews. The cast includes Penny Arcade, Peter Groby, Rita Redd, and Styles Caldwell. Jackie receives credit for “Additional Dialogue” in the program. Jackie’s cousin Joey Preston begins working as stage manager and assistant to Curtis.
    Winter 1983 – Penny Arcade helps Jackie stop drinking by spending every night with him for months on end. Curtis is smoking a lot of cigarettes and drinking a lot of coffee.
    March 1984 – Curtis videotapes a pilot for Moral Heights a gay TV soap opera he has scripted based on characters from Breakfast at Tiffany’s and other movies. It is never telecast.
    May 26, 1984 – Jackie Curtis’s final wedding takes place at No. 1 Fifth Avenue. The groom is Gary Majchrzak and Andy Warhol’s art dealer Leo Castelli gives Jackie away. Artist Larry Rivers and his jazz band provide music. After the ceremony Jackie holds up an astrological chart and explains that his staged weddings had come full circle and this was to be the final one. Attendees include Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat and, Melba LaRose who originated the role of Nola Noonan in Glamour, Glory and Gold . Melba had tap danced at Jackie’s very first wedding in 1969.
    Summer and fall 1984 – Curtis friend Gomadi begins supplying Jackie and Margo Howard-Howard with heroin. They frequently shoot up together. Jackie overdoses, but Margo revives him. The injection site becomes infected and Jackie is hospitalized at St. Vincent’s hospital for nearly a month.
    November 1984 – Rehearsals begin for Champagne at La Mama.
    January 3, 1985 – Champagne , Jackie’s final play opens at La Mama. Jackie plays lead character Piper Heidsieck, a movie star who is foolishly trying to become a Broadway stage star. Curtis is using