In the late 19th to early 21st centuries, female impersonation was a hugely popular performance genre. Men in colleges, business, and even the military formed drag clubs and put on musicals with little fear of judgment. But no female impersonator was as famous, successful, or highly-regarded as Julian Eltinge (1881-1941). As a child, Eltinge, started playing female characters and imitating women with his mother's encouragement while his father shuttled his family around the Americas in search of a mining fortune that never materialized.
In his late teens the future drag star quickly rose through the ranks of semi-amateur all-male musicals, progressed to vaudeville, and eventually starred in successful broadway musicals. For decades, the Julian Eltinge Theatre on West 42nd Street bore testament to his stature.
But Eltinge longed to play serious roles that did not require him to impersonate women. He constructed a hypermasculine offstage persona—a cigar-loving former Harvard athlete who beat up anyone who questioned his manliness—most of which wasn't true. He published a beauty magazine for women, launched makeup products, and became a paid spokesperson for corsets, all without a hint of irony.
In a time increasingly focused on separating "real men" from "inverts" and "perverts", Eltinge’s efforts reflected society’s growing demands that men define themselves in new ways. Beautiful pays tribute to Eltinge and gives rich insight into his unique contributions to the transformation of cultural ideas about masculinity and femininity.
