Early Drag Performer Jimmy Slater Debrons Studio Portraits Showing Female Impersonation, 1920s-40s

Jimmy Slater

Photograph

[LGBTQ] [Drag] JJimmy Slater and Rusty female impersonator photograph archive documenting early twentieth century drag performance culture and queer theatrical networks in Britain and the United States, produced circa 1920s–1940s. The photographs capture two performers working within the tradition of stage female impersonation that flourished in music halls, vaudeville circuits, and theatrical revues during the interwar period. Jimmy Slater, an English female impersonator who began performing in seaside concert parties as a teenager and later honed his craft in British Army concert parties during the First World War, appears in elaborate theatrical portraits reflecting the glamorous visual language associated with drag performance of the era. The archive also includes a signed studio photograph of the American drag performer Rusty inscribed to Patsy Kelly, the Hollywood actress widely recognized as one of the earliest openly lesbian figures in American film culture. Together the images document both the public stage presence of female impersonators and the personal networks connecting queer performers and entertainers across transatlantic entertainment circuits.

Archive of four professional studio photographs dating from approximately the 1920s through the 1940s. Three photographs depict Jimmy Slater in highly stylized theatrical portraits taken by Debrons Theatrical Photographers of Preston. In these images Slater appears in fur-trimmed evening gowns, feathered hats, and elaborate stage costume emphasizing the aesthetic conventions of female impersonation performance in British theatrical culture. The fourth photograph is a professional Chicago studio portrait of the drag performer Rusty, photographed wearing a cloche hat and fur stole in a style associated with Jazz Age stage glamour. The Rusty photograph bears a handwritten inscription addressed to Patsy Kelly, linking the image directly to an actress whose career spanned Hollywood film, Broadway theater, and later television and who has been widely identified within queer cultural history.

Four photographs. Silver gelatin prints. Three Jimmy Slater portraits measure approximately 8 x 10 inches and are mounted in large presentation mats measuring approximately 11.75 x 15 inches. The Rusty portrait measures approximately 8 x 10 inches. These photographs document the visual culture of female impersonation performance during a period when drag artists occupied a complex position within popular entertainment, appearing in concert parties, vaudeville stages, and theatrical revues while also circulating within informal queer social networks. The inscription to Patsy Kelly provides documentary evidence of connections between drag performers and queer figures in early twentieth century entertainment industries in both Britain and the United States. Light surface wear and minor handling marks to prints and mats consistent with age. Images remain strong and well defined. Overall very good condition. A visually striking group preserving early drag performance aesthetics and personal connections within interwar queer entertainment culture.

Item #22673

Price: $1,700.00