Darienne Lake

Darienne Lake
Lake at RuPaul's DragCon LA in 2022
Born
Greg Meyer

(1971-11-27) November 27, 1971 (age 53)
Long Island, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)Drag queen, television personality
Years active1990–present

Greg Meyer (born November 27, 1971), better known by the stage name Darienne Lake, is a drag queen and television personality. Lake began performing in drag in 1990 in Rochester, New York before rising to prominence after competing on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, placing fourth. After appearing on the reality television show, Darienne Lake toured internationally, released a comedy album, and performed in film, television, and numerous web series.

Early life

Lake was born on Long Island, New York and moved to Rochester at age eleven.[1] As a middle child of five, she felt ignored growing up.[2] At age eighteen, her mother kicked her out of her home due to her sexual orientation; her mother has since apologized.[3]

Career

Early work

Lake’s drag career began in Rochester, New York following her first year of college in 1990.[1] She was inspired by a drag queen’s performance as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in a local production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.[4] When her friends put her up in drag, they said she resembled Ricki Lake in Hairspray (1988); the stage name Darienne Lake is an homage to her as well as to the Six Flags Darien Lake amusement park.[4] Lake later appeared on a 1997 episode of The Ricki Lake Show about plus-sized drag queens.[5][6] Lake's drag mother, Naomi Kane, was also the drag mother of Mrs. Kasha Davis.[7]

Since the 1990s, Lake has been active in the New York drag community and has performed across the United States and internationally.[4][8] Lake held the title of Miss Gay Rochester in 1998–1999.[9][10]

In 2003, she appeared in a VH1 documentary about drag titled Boys Will Be Girls, alongside her drag daughter Pandora Boxx, who went on to become a contestant on the second season of RuPaul’s Drag Race as well as the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.[4][8]

Drag Race

Darienne Lake at RuPaul's DragCon LA in 2019

Lake rose to international prominence after winning the fan vote to appear on the sixth season of Drag Race. During the series, Lake won a main challenge (episode three) and ultimately finished the competition in fourth place behind Adore Delano, Courtney Act, and eventual winner Bianca Del Rio.[4]

In 2018, Lake appeared in Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate.[11]

Lake has been praised for her lip syncing skills, having survived three lip syncs for your life on Drag Race.[12][13] IndieWire wrote that Lake "lip syncs like the rent is due".[12] Vulture ranked Lake as one of the top 100 most powerful drag queens in America in 2019.[14]

Darienne Lake competed on the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (2023).[15] She ultimately finished the competition in ninth place.

Personal life

In 2020, Lake underwent surgery for melanoma.[16]

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Title Details
Altered Boy[17]
  • Released: April 7, 2023
  • Label: Comedy Dynamics

Singles

Title Year Album
"Shade: The Rusical"
(with the cast of RuPaul's Drag Race, season 6) 		2014 Shade: The Rusical Album[18]
"Oh No, She Betta Don't! (Team Panty Ho's)"
(with the cast of RuPaul's Drag Race, season 6) 		2014 Non-album single

[19]

"Money, Success, Fame, Glamour" (Glam Rock version)
(with the cast of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, season 8) 		2023 Non-album single

[20]

Other appearances

Song Year Other Artist(s) Album
"Lick It Lollipop" 2014 RuPaul RuPaul Presents: The CoverGurlz[21]
"Christmas is Coming" 2015 Ivy Winters & Pandora Boxx Christmas Queens[22]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2003 Boys Will Be Girls Herself
2008 Mrs. Kasha Davis: The Life of an International Housewife Celebrity Gladys Butts Short film, credited as Greg Mayer
2015 This is Drag Herself
2018 Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate Gorky Park

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1996 Ricki Lake Herself Episode: "Get a Grip Doll... You're Too Fat to Be a Drag Queen"
2014 RuPaul's Drag Race Season 6, Contestant; 4th place
RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked!
2018 Hey Qween!
2023 RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Contestant;[23] 9th place
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: Untucked
Drag Me to Dinner Hulu original reality series[24]

Web series

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2023 Meet the Queens Herself Stand-alone special
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 8 		[25]
EW News Flash Guest [26]
BuzzFeed Celeb [27]
Give It To Me Straight [28]
Very Delta [29]
2024 House of Laughs WOWPresents Plus original [30]

References

  1. ^ a b Schonewolf, Josh (23 August 2014). "#FeatureFriday: Catching Up With Darienne Lake". Archived from the original on 5 January 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  2. ^ McCurdy, Madeleine (September 1, 2024). "CT interviews: Darienne Lake". Campus Times. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  3. ^ Middleton, Josh (5 May 2014). "Girl Talk: Chit-Chatting with Darienne Lake". Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e Rezsnyak, Eric (19 February 2014). "The Lake Effect". Archived from the original on 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  5. ^ "Season 6 Spotlight: Darienne Lake". Drag Official. Archived from the original on 2014-02-09. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  6. ^ Get a grip doll... you're too fat to be a drag queen part 1 ricki lake, archived from the original on 2022-01-05, retrieved 2022-01-05
  7. ^ Guerra, Joey (April 1, 2015). "Mrs. Kasha Davis talks 'RuPaul's Drag Race' elimination". Chron.com. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Kasha & Darienne: 80's Ladies". Spin Cycle. Archived from the original on 2019-10-22. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  9. ^ "Miss Gay Rochester – Our Community Roots". Archived from the original on 2017-02-06. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  10. ^ Darienne Lake Making Love Out of Nothing at All, 31 March 2011, archived from the original on 2022-01-05, retrieved 2022-01-05
  11. ^ Rudolph 10/27/2017, Christopher. "Bianca Del Rio Is Behind Bars On The Set Of "Hurricane Bianca 2"". LOGO News. Archived from the original on 2022-01-05. Retrieved 2022-01-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ a b Rosebrugh, Gregory (2014-05-02). "Ranking the Glitter Ball Down: A Breakdown of the Final Four of Rupaul's Drag Race, Season Six". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 2022-01-06. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  13. ^ Rezsnyak, Eric. ""RuPaul's Drag Race" Season 6, Episode 11: Glitter Ball". CITY News. Archived from the original on 2022-01-06. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  14. ^ "The Most Powerful Drag Queens in America Ranking the new establishment". Vulture. 10 June 2019. Archived from the original on 10 June 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  15. ^ Nolfi, Joey (April 20, 2023). "'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8' cast of returning queens revealed". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  16. ^ Costas, Constance (9 August 2020). "Drag Queen, Darienne Lake, From 'Rupaul's Drag Race' Reveals 'Gnarly Scars' From Melanoma Surgery: 'Not Today, Cancer'". Survivornet. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  17. ^ Altered Boy - Album by Darianne Lake, April 7, 2023, retrieved July 11, 2023
  18. ^ "Shade: The Rusical". Spotify. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  19. ^ "Oh No, She Betta Don't (feat. The cast of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 6)". Spotify. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  20. ^ "Money, Success, Fame, Glamour (Glam Rock Mix)". Spotify. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  21. ^ "RuPaul Presents The CoverGurlz". Spotify. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  22. ^ "Song - Christmas is Coming". Spotify. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  23. ^ Nolfi, Joey (April 20, 2023). "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8 cast of returning queens revealed". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  24. ^ Rice, Lynette (May 1, 2023). "'Drag Me To Dinner': Hulu Announces Premiere Date For Unscripted Series From Neil Patrick Harris, David Burtka". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  25. ^ RuPaul's Drag Race (April 20, 2023), Meet the Queens of All Stars 8! 🌟 | QUEEN RUVEAL | RuPaul's Drag Race AS8 👠✨, archived from the original on April 20, 2023, retrieved April 20, 2023
  26. ^ Darienne Lake Talks Lip-Sync Assassin Power on RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8 | Entertainment Weekly. Entertainment Weekly. April 26, 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  27. ^ The Queens Of "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8" Play Who's Who. BuzzFeed Celeb. May 15, 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  28. ^ DARIENNE LAKE - "Give It To Me Straight" Ep22 - Hosted by Maddy Morphosis. Maddy Morphosis. October 9, 2023. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  29. ^ Moguls of Media (2023-03-20). Very Delta #36 with Darienne Lake: "Are You Delta Lake Like Me?". Retrieved 2024-10-14 – via YouTube.
  30. ^ Medina, Joel (March 27, 2024). "First 'House of Laughs' Trailer Reveals the Illustrious Cast and Release Date [Exclusive]". Collider. Retrieved August 20, 2024.